Aborted Prosecutions

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Solicitor-General how many prosecutions have failed owing to the failure of witnesses to reach court in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: The figures for the year from April 2004 to March 2005 are tabled as follows.
	4,945 cases failed because the victim unexpectedly failed to attend court, equivalent to 2.1 per cent. of failed cases; 1,935 failed because of the unexpected failure of other witnesses to attend, equivalent to 0.8 per cent. of failed cases; and 1,593 cases failed because of the unexpected failure of police witnesses to attend court, equivalent to 0.7 per cent. of failed cases.
	No comparable information is held for earlier periods.
	
		Reasons for unsuccessful outcomes: 2004–05
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 Administrative finalisations(1) 51,589 21.6 
			 Evidential reasons   
			 E10 Key witness does not support case 1,786 0.7 
			 Ell Unreliable/lack of identification 7,975 3.3 
			 El Inadmissible evidence—breach of PACE 399 0.2 
			 E2 Inadmissible evidence—other than breach of PACE 1,201 0.5 
			 E3 Unreliable confession 194 0.1 
			 E4 Conflict of evidence 8,416 3.5 
			 E5 Essential medical evidence missing 510 0.2 
			 E6 Essential forensic evidence missing 1,515 0.6 
			 E7 Essential legal element missing 35,251 14.8 
			 E8 Unreliable witness or witnesses 5,183 2.2 
			 E9 Key victim does not support case 5,229 2.2 
			 Public interest reasons   
			 P12 Effect on victim's physical or mental health 534 0.2 
			 PI 3 Defendant elderly or in significant ill health 1,404 0.6 
			 P14 Loss or harm minor and single incident 612 0.3 
			 PI5 Loss or harm put right 1,177 0.5 
			 PI6 Long delay between offence/charge or trial 2,875 1.2 
			 PI7 Very small or nominal penalty 2,906 1.2 
			 PI8 Other indictment/sentence 8,966 3.8 
			 PI9 Informer or other public interest immunity issues 1,776 0.7 
			 P20 Caution more suitable 5,209 2.2 
			 P21 Youth of offender 164 0.1 
			
			 Prosecution unable to proceed   
			 U22 File not received from police—adjournment refused 2,055 0.9 
			 U23 CPS not ready—adjournment refused 1,886 0.8 
			 U24 Offence taken into consideration 561 0.2 
			 U25 Victim refuses to give evidence or retracts 10,401 4.4 
			 U26 Other witness refuses to give evidence or retracts 1,321 0.6 
			 U27 Victim fails to attend unexpectedly 4,945 2.1 
			 U28 Other civilian witness fails to attend unexpectedly 1,935 0.8 
			 U29 Police witness fails to attend unexpectedly 1,593 0.7 
			 U30 Victim intimidation 29 0.0 
			 U31 Other civilian witness intimidation 33 0.0 
			 U32 Documents produced at court 9,330 3.9 
			
			 Other reasons   
			 O33 Bind over acceptable 16,463 6.9 
			 O34 Acquittal after trial 17,428 7.3 
			 O35 Other 25,534 10.7 
			 Total238,385 — 
		
	
	(1) Where the defendant could not be traced, died, or was unfit to plead.
	
		Reasons for unsuccessful outcomes: 2005–06 to 21 November 2005
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 Administrative finalisations(2) 24,114 18.4 
			 Evidential reasons   
			 E10 Key witness does not support case 1,185 0.9 
			 Ell Unreliable/lack of identification 4,592 3.5 
			 El Inadmissible evidence—breach of PACE 207 0.2 
			 E2 Inadmissible evidence—other than breach of PACE 569 0.4 
			 E3 Unreliable confession 65 0.0 
			 E4 Conflict of evidence 5,330 4.1 
			 E5 Essential medical evidence missing 255 0.2 
			 E6 Essential forensic evidence missing 853 0.7 
			 E7 Essential legal element missing 24,378 18.6 
			 E8 Unreliable witness or witnesses 3,219 2.5 
			 E9 Key victim does not support case 4,160 3.2 
			
			 Public interest reasons   
			 P12 Effect on victim's physical or mental health 316 0.2 
			 P13 Defendant elderly or in significant ill health 968 0.7 
			 P14 Loss or harm minor and single incident 496 0.4 
			 PI5 Loss or harm put right 907 0.7 
			 P16 Long delay between offence/charge or trial 1,526 1.2 
			 PI7 Very small or nominal penalty 2,029 1.5 
			 PI8 Other indictment/sentence 5,603 4.3 
			 PI9 Informer or other public interest immunity issues 892 0.7 
			 P20 Caution more suitable 3,555 2.7 
			 P21 Youth of offender 192 0.1 
			 P36 Inappropriate to compel victim 94 0.1 
			 P37 Inappropriate to compel witness 40 0.0 
			
			 Prosecution unable to proceed   
			 U22 File not received from police—adjournment refused 1,447 1.1 
			 U23 CPS not ready—adjournment refused 1,014 0.8 
			 U24 Offence taken into consideration 293 0.2 
			 U25 Victim refuses to give evidence or retracts 5,763 4.4 
			 U26 Other witness refuses to give evidence or retracts 708 0.5 
			 U27 Victim fails to attend unexpectedly 3,096 2.4 
			 U28 Other civilian witness fails to attend unexpectedly 1,202 0.9 
			 U29 Police witness fails to attend unexpectedly 956 0.7 
			 U30 Victim intimidation 9 0.0 
			 U31 Other civilian witness intimidation 13 0.0 
			 U32 Documents produced at court 4,680 3.6 
			 Other reasons   
			 O33 Bind over acceptable 8,374 6.4 
			 O34 Acquittal after trial 12,441 9.5 
			 035 Other 5,656 4.3 
			 Total131,197 — 
		
	
	(2) Where the defendant could not be traced, died, or was unfit to plead

Carbon Management Programme

Norman Lamb: To ask the Solicitor-General whether his Department will sign up to the Carbon Trust's Carbon Management programme.

Mike O'Brien: I am answering this question on behalf of the Departments for which I am ministerially accountable—the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Treasury Solicitors Department (TSol), Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO) and HMCPS Inspectorate (HMCPSI).
	All my Departments work together to share best practice in relation to sustainable development. None have immediate plans to adopt the Carbon Trust's scheme in its own right, although the CPS, which already uses renewable energy (climate levy exempt) on a large part of its "controlled estate" will be using the Carbon Trust to carry out energy surveys in their offices with a view to identifying further ways of reducing energy use.
	TSol occupies 80 per cent. of a single building for which the landlord provides mechanical and electrical services. The landlord is using cleaner energy, which contributes to reducing carbon emissions. Although the landlord does not currently intend to sign up to the Carbon Management programme, to a great extent they believe that they have already undertaken the five steps required.

Dr. Ann David

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Solicitor-General if the Crown Prosecution Service will revisit the papers relating to the conduct of Dr. Ann David, following the completion of her disciplinary case before the General Medical Council, in relation to deaths of patients at Basildon hospital for whom she had responsibility.

Mike O'Brien: Yes. Essex police have delivered a comprehensive file relating to Doctor Ann David to the Crown Prosecution Service in Essex. A senior and experienced casework lawyer will review all the available evidence in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors. Advice will be provided to the police as soon as practicable and commensurate with the complexity and sensitivity of the case.

Avian Influenza

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 7 November 2005, Official Report, column 6W to the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Mr. Williams), on avian influenza, where the suitably engineered commercial licensed landfills will be located; and what research has been evaluated on the safety of deep burial of avian-influenza-infected carcasses.

Ben Bradshaw: In consultation with the Environment Agency, officials are currently reviewing the suitability for poultry carcase disposal of all commercial licensed landfills where Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) permits have been applied for. Once this review is complete a list of potentially suitable sites will be made public. A landfill protocol designed to mitigate any public health, animal health and environmental risks is being drawn up by representatives from Government, the environmental agencies and the landfill industry. This protocol draws on the experiences obtained from the deep burial of large number of animal carcases during the 2001 outbreak of foot and mouth disease—it also draws on published data on virus survival and Environment Agency research.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the polymerase chain reaction test for M. bovis DNA in (a) identifying infected material around badger setts and (b) combating bovine tuberculosis; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The detection of Mycobacterium bovis directly from live badgers and their excretions using techniques based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is complex and difficult. Largely this is because of the low levels and intermittent nature of excretion of M. bovis by infected animals. Currently the most robust PCR techniques for use on any sample (cattle, badger or environmental) are specific for M. tuberculosis complex and not M. bovis. Small scale use of this technique on environmental samples has highlighted the practical difficulties in obtaining good quality DMA and specificity is a further problem. The results so far have not been encouraging, but we are looking to see if improvements can be made.
	Research using conventional laboratory-based PCR has shown that the technique is not yet able to perform as well as conventional bacterial culture in the detection of M. bovis. However, the PCR technique may well have a future role to play in helping to combat the disease in cattle by helping to reduce the time taken to confirm a herd breakdown. Our research is designed to look more closely at this aspect of disease control.

Brazilian Beef

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations her Department has made on ensuring that Brazil's animal traceability systems are improved following recent incidents of foot and mouth disease in that country; and if her Department will introduce a full ban on Brazilian beef imports.

Ben Bradshaw: Each consignment of imported meat must be accompanied by appropriate health certification. The certificate confirms the territory from which the animals originated. In addition the animal must have been subjected to ante- and post-mortem inspection and the meat must be deboned and matured. This process ensures that imported meat does not present a risk.
	All meat imported into the EU from third countries must enter at designated border inspection posts (BIPs) where it is subject to veterinary inspections. All consignments are subject to documentary and identity checks and at least 20 per cent. of consignments undergo physical checks. These ensure import conditions are met and that the products remain in a satisfactory condition during transport.
	Following recent outbreaks of foot and mouth disease, the Brazilian authorities have imposed additional internal movement controls on animals from the affected area.
	The European Commission's Food and Veterinary Office is responsible for carrying out inspections in the third countries from which meat is imported into the Community. An inspection visit was carried out in Brazil in September. The outcome of that inspection is not yet available, but Commission Services would have taken immediate action to protect animal and public health if they thought this was necessary.
	WTO rules allow protective measures to be taken on the basis of scientific evidence and these measures must be adapted to regional conditions. Therefore, following notification of the recent outbreak, immediate action was taken to ban imports of meat from the affected regions.

Contaminated Land Capital Projects Programme

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how long it took for each eligible area to receive funding from her Department's Contaminated Land Capital Projects Programme from the time that her Department was notified of payment of the funding to the affected area;
	(2)  how many contaminated land areas have been eligible for funding under her Department's Contaminated Land Capital Projects Programme;
	(3)  how many contaminated land areas have been rectified by identified class A polluters without recourse to her Department's Contaminated Land Capital Projects Programme in the last five years;
	(4)  what the criteria are for eligibility of contaminated land areas for funding under her Department's Contaminated Land Capital Projects Programme.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department's Contaminated Land Capital Projects Programme (CLCPP) provides financial assistance to English local authorities for contaminated land capital projects. It covers both investigation and remediation work by authorities. It does not fund work by other parties. It is delivered to successful authorities as supported capital expenditure (revenue) via the next available revenue support grant settlement after expenditure by the authority. In 2004–05 we approved 163 bids. Approval times vary, but two months is common for straightforward cases. Sites and projects may involve more than one bid, for example where work is in stages.
	The eligibility criteria for this programme are at section 2 of CLAN1/05, "A Guide for English Local Authorities". Local authorities were made aware of the guide. A copy is on DEFRA's website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/land/contaminated/approvals/index.htm, which is updated each year.
	We do not hold information about investigation or remedial work undertaken without recourse to our programme. Where the case is the subject of action under part 11A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, then information is placed on the relevant public register held by each local authority. The DEFRA website details overall numbers of part 11A cases at http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/land/contaminated/faq.htm This data on part 11A regulatory activity is regularly updated. Many contaminated sites are dealt with through the development of land and the grant of planning permission, and applications and decisions are placed on the local planning register.

EU Committees

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the UK representatives on the EU Sugar Management Committee and Special Committee for Agriculture will support the proposal that the EU price used for calculation of the export refunds for manufactured goods containing sugar should include the proposed restructuring levy.

Jim Knight: The European Commission's proposals for reform of the EU sugar regime provide for the difference between world prices and prices in the Community to be covered by export refunds to the extent necessary to enable trade to take place. The setting of refunds is delegated to the Commission through the Management Committee procedure. UK representatives at that Committee will judge proposals for the calculation of refunds on their merits and in the light of appropriate consultations with stakeholder interests.

Fly-tipping

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what volume of waste she estimates was illegally fly-tipped in each year since 1992, broken down by the nature of this waste.

Ben Bradshaw: No national data is currently available on the volume of waste illegally fly-tipped over the whole of the period specified. Flycapture, the national fly-tipping database, was established in April 2004 and although it does not record the specific volume of incidents, average data is gathered.
	
		
			  Number of tips Size of tip/m3 Volume/m3 Type 
		
		
			 Single Item 333,055 0.25 78,954.5 assumption 
			 Car boot or less 246,468 1 242,335.0 guidance 
			 Van load 194,904 4 759,172.0 guidance 
			 Transit van load 96,943 10 941,320.0 guidance 
			 Tipper lorry load 20,987 40 777,640.0 assumption 
			 Significant multi loads 6,860 100 569,900.0 assumption 
			 Total/m3   3,369,321.5  
		
	
	Note:
	1. Data in the table is from waste collection authorities and the Environment Agency for England as recorded on the Flycapture database from April 2004–March 2005.
	2. Volume details are an estimate only as the database records summary numbers linked to average sizes rather than reporting specific volumes in an incident database. 'assumption' indicates an average size that can be assumed, whereas 'guidance' indicates that a suggested size is proposed in the database guidance.
	The Environment Agency also keeps more detailed information on the incidents they deal with. The total number of substantiated fly-tipped incidents attended by the Environment Agency are:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 2001 2,437 
			 2002 4,636 
			 2003 4,967 
			 2004 3,658 
			 2005 (3)1,932 
		
	
	1 1 January 2005 to 10 November 2005
	Note: 1. Environment Agency data capture on the nature of wastes fly-tipped and available for 2001 to 2005 is in the table. The number of pollutants identified will exceed the number of incidents due to single incidents with multiple pollutants. 2. Environment Agency volumetric data capture commenced last year It is therefore as yet detailed will not provide as complete a picture as Flycapture.
	
		Substantiated fly-tipping incidents—nature of waste fly-tipped 2005 data (up to 1 November 2005)
		
			 Pollutant type (tier 1) Pollutants (tier 2) 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 
		
		
			 Agricultural Materials and Wastes Carcasses 4 8 12 6 1 
			 Agricultural Materials and Wastes Fertiliser 1  1   
			 Agricultural Materials and Wastes Other Agricultural Material or Waste 8 23 27 10 10 
			 Agricultural Materials and Wastes Silage Liquors1  
			 Agricultural Materials and Wastes Solid Manure 2 10 3 6 1 
			 Atmospheric Pollutants and Effects Chemical Odour 1 
			 Atmospheric Pollutants and Effects Dust 2 1  1  
			 Atmospheric Pollutants and Effects Fumes   1 1  
			 Atmospheric Pollutants and Effects Other Atmospheric Pollutant or Effect 2 5 1 2  
			 Atmospheric Pollutants and Effects Smoke 2 2 10 7 3 
			 Contaminated Water Chemically Contaminated Run-Off 1 1
			 Contaminated Water Firefighting Run-Off  2 1   
			 Contaminated Water Other Contaminated Water 3 2  2  
			 Contaminated Water Urban Run-Off 1 
			 Contaminated Water Vehicle and Plant Washings  2  1  
			 General Biodegradable Materials and Wastes Algae  1
			 General Biodegradable Materials and Wastes Animal and Vegetable Oil 3 4 6 6 1 
			 General Biodegradable Materials and Wastes Blood and Offal 1 2 1 1 2 
			 General Biodegradable Materials and Wastes Composted Material 14 13 11 9 5 
			 General Biodegradable Materials and Wastes Food and Drink 23 31 39 35 13 
			 General Biodegradable Materials and Wastes Natural Organic Material 46 88 83 71 22 
			 General Biodegradable Materials and Wastes Other Animal Matter 11 15 18 17 12 
			 General Biodegradable Materials and Wastes Other General Biodegradable Material or Waste 373 602 659 456 154 
			 General Biodegradable Materials and Wastes Vegetable Cuttings and Deposits 149 195 196 150 51 
			 Inert Materials and Wastes Coal 2 3
			 Inert Materials and Wastes Demolition Materials and Wastes 519 901 967 716 266 
			 Inert Materials and Wastes Mineral Materials and Wastes 7 12 14 12 3 
			 Inert Materials and Wastes Other Inert Material or Waste 218 370 366 210 87 
			 Inert Materials and Wastes Rocks and Gravel 12 19 18 20 2 
			 Inert Materials and Wastes Soils and Clay 65 147 131 89 41 
			 Inorganic Chemicals/Products Acids 6 10 6 6 9 
			 Inorganic Chemicals/Products Alkalis 3 3 5 5 3 
			 Inorganic Chemicals/Products Ammonia Solutions 1 
			 Inorganic Chemicals/Products Cement  2 3 1  
			 Inorganic Chemicals/Products Cyanides  2   1 
			 Inorganic Chemicals/Products Heavy Metals   1 1 1 
			 Inorganic Chemicals/Products Other Inorganic Chemical or Product 9 17 16 13 6 
			 No pollutant Entered No pollutant Entered  1
			 Oils and Fuel Crude Oil1 1 
			 Oils and Fuel Cutting Oils  1 2 1 3 
			 Oils and Fuel Diesel 11 17 23 4 5 
			 Oils and Fuel Gas and Fuel Oils 2 4 7 5  
			 Oils and Fuel Hydraulic Oils 7 7 1 2  
			 Oils and Fuel Insulating and Cable Oils1  
			 Oils and Fuel Kerosene and Aviation Fuel  1 1   
			 Oils and Fuel Lubricating Oils 7 21 20  7 
			 Oils and Fuel Mixed/Waste Oils 22 60 48 58 34 
			 Oils and Fuel Other Oil or Fuel 6 17 8 12 10 
			 Oils and Fuel Petrol 7 14 10 11 3 
			 Oils and Fuel Unidentified Oil 17 32 43 42 20 
			 Organic Chemicals/Products Adhesives   7 1  
			 Organic Chemicals/Products Alcohols/Aldehydes  4 2 2 1 
			 Organic Chemicals/Products Dyes and Inks 4 2 1  1 
			 Organic Chemicals/Products Hydrocarbons 4 5 1 5 5 
			 Organic Chemicals/Products Other Organic Chemical or Product 7 12 15 9 13 
			 Organic Chemicals/Products Paints and Varnishes 3 11 14 15 7 
			 Organic Chemicals/Products Pesticides and Biocides 1 1 2 3 2 
			 Organic Chemicals/Products Phenols and Creosote  1 4 2 2 
			 Organic Chemicals/Products Solvents 10 22 19 21 12 
			 Organic Chemicals/Products Surfactants and Detergents 2 5 1 4 4 
			 Other Pollutant Microbiological  1 1   
			 Other Pollutant Noise1  
			 Other Pollutant Other 98 129 151 138 45 
			 Other Pollutant Radionucleid   1   
			 Pollutant Not Identified Not Identified 43 72 113 71 44 
			 Sewage Materials Crude Sewage 1  1 3 2 
			 Sewage Materials Grey Water  2 1   
			 Sewage Materials Other Sewage Material 1 2  1 1 
			 Sewage Materials Sludge  1 1   
			 Specific Waste Materials Asbestos 122 241 274 275 167 
			 Specific Waste Materials Batteries 9 29 33 27 18 
			 Specific Waste Materials Clinical Waste 9 12 14 13 4 
			 Specific Waste Materials Commercial Waste 130 292 316 214 96 
			 Specific Waste Materials Containers 21 39 56 64 35 
			 Specific Waste Materials Contaminated Construction and Demolition  Material and Waste13 7 
			 Specific Waste Materials Contaminated Soil 1 1 8 3  
			 Specific Waste Materials Electrical Equipment61 58 
			 Specific Waste Materials Household Waste 369 840 1,002 790 309 
			 Specific Waste Materials Inorganic Chemical Wastes 2 3 3 3 5 
			 Specific Waste Materials Metal Wastes 36 88 74 59 16 
			 Specific Waste Materials Organic Chemical Wastes 2 6 3 3 5 
			 Specific Waste Materials Other Composites 6 6 8 6  
			 Specific Waste Materials Other Non-Metal Wastes 7 19 23 26 8 
			 Specific Waste Materials Other Specific Waste Material 57 219 228 179 59 
			 Specific Waste Materials Prescription only medicines   2 2  
			 Specific Waste Materials Tarry Wastes 6 10 11 5 3 
			 Specific Waste Materials Thermal Mineral Residues   2   
			 Specific Waste Materials Tyres 199 404 429 282 160 
			 Specific Waste Materials Vehicles and Vehicle Parts 62 116 140 102 55

Pigeons

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 15 November 2005, Official Report, column 1067W, on pigeons, what criteria will be used in the die-off assessment to calculate response times; and what assessment she has made of the capacity of the State Veterinary Service to deal with carcase collection.

Ben Bradshaw: A die-off involving more than three to four birds from the same species or five to six birds from different species will be referred, by the Defra helpline, to a laboratory specialist (during normal working hours) or to a veterinary officer from the State Veterinary Service (out of normal working hours). The decision as to whether carcases are required for examination is made during this second, more detailed assessment. The criteria to determine the time until collection will depend on factors including the scale of the die-off, other possible causal factors and the location of the carcases.
	In order to enable the State Veterinary Service to make response times as short as practicable, all animal health offices have increased the number of staff on call out of hours by arranging for an additional Animal Health Officer to be available from each office out of hours specifically to carry out this work.

Waste Management

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total volume of (a) domestic, (b) commercial and (c) other waste was in each region in each year since 2001–02; what this represents per head of population; and what proportion was (i) sent to landfill, (ii) incinerated and (iii) disposed of by other means.

Ben Bradshaw: Results for municipal waste, of which approximately 90 per cent. is domestic waste, are taken from the annual Defra Municipal Waste Management Survey. The results for both commercial waste and industrial waste are taken from the Environment Agency Commercial and Industrial Waste Survey and are available for 2002–03 only. Results for other types of waste are not available broken down at regional level. Totals may not add due to rounding.
	
		Municipal waste Thousand tonnes
		
			  Arisings Tonnes per head Landfill Incinerated Other 
		
		
			 2001–02  
			 East Midlands 2,409 0.58 1,881 156 373 
			 East of England 2,999 0.56 2,411 42 545 
			 London 4,438 0.61 3,244 844 351 
			 North East 1,572 0.62 1,220 243 108 
			 North West 4,183 0.62 3,608 97 478 
			 South East 4,477 0.56 3,537 1 940 
			 South West 2,830 0.57 2,284 3 544 
			 West Midlands 2,985 0.57 1,688 944 351 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 3,013 0.61 2,549 116 348 
			   
			 2002–03  
			 East Midlands 2,449 0.58 1,899 142 408 
			 East of England 3,012 0.56 2,369 43 600 
			 London 4,446 0.60 3,163 873 410 
			 North East 1,657 0.65 1,261 232 164 
			 North West 4,344 0.64 3,625 112 607 
			 South East 4,538 0.56 3,467 16 1,055 
			 South West 2,901 0.58 2,263 3 635 
			 West Midlands 3,046 0.57 1,650 968 428 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 3,001 0.60 2,372 217 411 
			 2003–04  
			 East Midlands 2,445 0.57 1,791 151 503 
			 East of England 2,944 0.54 2,203 36 704 
			 London 4,342 0.59 3,021 827 494 
			 North East 1,637 0.64 1,147 216 273 
			 North West 4,380 0.64 3,491 109 779 
			 South East 4,529 0.56 3,310 93 1,125 
			 South West 2,865 0.57 2,166 4 695 
			 West Midlands 3,031 0.57 1,594 928 509 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 2,931 0.59 2,212 237 482 
		
	
	
		2002–03 Commercial waste Thousand tonnes
		
			  Arisings Tonnes per head Landfill Incinerated Other 
		
		
			 East Midlands 2,322 0.55 1,178 113 1,031 
			 East of England 3,308 0.61 1,389 111 1,808 
			 London 5,604 0.76 2,520 286 2,798 
			 North East 1,199 0.47 589 121 489 
			 North West 3,833 0.57 2,035 133 1,665 
			 South East 5,271 0.66 2,547 223 2,501 
			 South West 2,967 0.60 1,549 47 1,371 
			 West Midlands 3,019 0.57 1,457 99 1,463 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 2,797 0.56 1,261 64 1,472 
		
	
	
		2002–03 Industrial waste Thousand tonnes
		
			  Arisings Tonnes per head Landfill Incinerated Other 
		
		
			 East Midlands 5,771 1.37 2,550 145 3,076 
			 East of England 3,256 0.60 857 202 2,197 
			 London 1,902 0.26 482 88 1,332 
			 North East 3,400 1.34 1,293 181 1,926 
			 North West 4,502 0.66 1,867 226 2,409 
			 South East 3,581 0.45 1,310 192 2,079 
			 South West 2,589 0.52 802 63 1,724 
			 West Midlands 4,246 0.80 1,457 135 2,654 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 8,339 1.67 2,574 89 5,676

Animal Experiments

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department at what stages the scientific validity of an animal experimentation project is assessed before it can be licensed by his Department; by whom; and by what methods.

Andy Burnham: The use of animals in scientific procedures in the United Kingdom is strictly regulated by the Home Office under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. Licences are granted for animal experiments undertaken for specific permissible purposes. There must be no alternative to the use of animals, the potential benefit of the work has to outweigh the adverse effects on the animals involved and the number of animals used and any suffering that may be caused must be minimised.
	Under the conditions attached to a certificate of designation under the 1986 Act, proposals to conduct a programme of work involving animal experiments must first be considered by the local ethical review process at the establishment concerned. One of the functions of the Ethical Review Process is to examine the efficacy and conduct of work to be undertaken. In addition, research councils and charities fund many research projects carried out under the 1986 Act and such work is evaluated by and reported to those organisations. A licence application is only submitted to the Home Office once participants in the local ethical review process are satisfied that the work can be justified.
	Applications received by the Home Office are thoroughly assessed by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Inspectorate, to ensure compliance with the criteria laid down in the 1986 Act. To comply with section 5(4) of the Act, any application to use protected animals in research must be subjected to a detailed cost/ benefit assessment by Home Office inspectors. Here, the likely adverse effects on the animals concerned are weighed against the benefit likely to accrue as a result of the proposed programme of work. Inspectors are either medical or veterinary professionals. They usually have first hand experience of biomedical research and possess higher scientific or clinical postgraduate qualifications. They advise the Secretary of State on whether and on what terms licence authorities should be granted. Some applications are also referred for advice to the Animal Procedures Committee.

Animal Experiments

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent advice he has received from (a) the Animal Procedures Committee and (b) other sources of independent advice on the scientific validity of animal experiments.

Andy Burnham: Three major United Kingdom inquiries have reported since 2002 on the contribution of animal research to science and medicine.
	In 2002 the House of Lords Select Committee on Animals in Scientific Procedures held that
	"On balance, we are convinced that experiments on animals have contributed greatly to scientific advances, both for human medicine and for animal health. Animal experimentation is a valuable research method which has proved itself over time. Toxicological testing in animals is at present essential for medical practice and the protection of consumers and the environment, as it often provides information that is not currently available from any other source."
	The Animal Procedures Committee carried out a review of the cost-benefit assessment in the use of animals in research and reported on this in June 2003. That report clearly states that
	"An absolute position that all animal experiments are scientifically invalid is untenable examples of scientifically dubious or invalid animal experiments do not add up to a general proof that animal experimentation as a whole is flawed science."
	In 2005 the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, in their report "The Ethics of Research Involving Animals", stated that
	"Animal research has been, and can potentially be, scientifically valid, in that it is possible to extrapolate from animal models to humans (or other animals) in specific cases (and) certain animal models have played significant roles in the study of particular diseases and led to the discovery of treatments for human diseases".
	The report also states that
	"producing a new medicine is a lengthy and complex process, and that decisions on the compounds that should proceed to the next stage are taken using a wide range of information. Tests on animals play a vital role, but they are not the only source of information that is used to determine safety and efficacy."
	We believe these views reflect those of the great majority in the wider scientific community.

Asylum/Immigration

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many failed asylum seekers have been deported to Zimbabwe from the UK since 2001.

Tony McNulty: Information on the destination of asylum removals has only been recorded since the start of 2004.
	The latest published information on removal of asylum seekers covers the second quarter of 2005.
	Information on removals of asylum seekers for the third quarter of 2005 will be published later this year on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html
	
		Removals and voluntary departures(3) of principal asylum applicants, all nationalities to Zimbabwe, 2004 to 2005 Q2(4)(5) Number of persons
		
			  2004 2005 
			 Type of removal Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 
		
		
			 Total persons removed(6)(7) 15 15 25 50 95 105 
			
			 of whom:   
			 Persons removed as a result of enforcement action(7)(8)(9) 5 10 10 30 70 75 
			
			 of whom:   
			 Persons leaving under assisted voluntary return programmes(10) 15 10 15 20 25 30 
		
	
	(3) Under sections 3(6), 3(7) or 33(1) of the Immigration Act 1971, or under section 10 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
	(4) Figures rounded to the nearest five. Data may not sum due to rounding.
	(5) Provisional.
	(6) Including persons departing 'voluntarily' after enforcement action had been initiated against them.
	(7) Persons who had sought asylum at some stage, excluding dependants.
	(8) Due to a change in the working practices of IND all asylum removals are now classed as enforced removals. Therefore there are no longer any asylum removals classed as "Refused entry at port and subsequently removed", and so the figures for 2004 are not directly comparable with previous years. This reclassification has no affect on the total removals recorded for 2004. This reclassification occurred in February 2003 and so applied to all asylum removals conducted in 2004. This change does not affect non-asylum removals.
	(9) Excludes assisted voluntary returns.
	(10) Persons leaving under assisted voluntary return programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration. May include some on-entry cases and some cases where enforcement action has been initiated.

Asylum/Immigration

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his Department's policy is on the deportation of failed asylum seekers from the UK who are (a) enrolled in a school or college and (b) due to sit examinations for (i) GCSEs or (ii) A-levels in the year they were deported; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: We will seek to remove failed asylum seekers who have no lawful basis of stay in the UK and who do not choose to leave voluntarily. In cases involving families, pastoral visits will normally be undertaken prior to removal to establish any factors which may impact on the timing of any removal. This may include any imminent examinations leading to a significant qualification.
	
		Removals of failed minor asylum seekers by quarter for 2004 and 2005(11)
		
			  2004 2005 
			  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Total Q1 Q2 
		
		
			 Adult 3,485 3,290 3,180 3,030 12,985 3,075 3,160 
			 Minor 605 485 400 405 1,895 365 425 
			 Unknown(12) 10 10 10 5 30 0 5 
			 Grand total 4,100 3,780 3,585 3,440 14,905 3,445 3,590 
		
	
	(11) Minors defined as under 18 on the date of their removal.
	(12) For those where no date of birth is available.
	Notes:
	1. This is based on provisional management information.
	2. The above figures have been rounded to the nearest five and totals may not sum.

Asylum/Immigration

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the Immigration and Nationality Directorate's protocol is for returning personal documentation to failed asylum seekers.

Tony McNulty: The Immigration and Nationality Directorate will take all reasonable steps to return personal documentation to asylum seekers whose claims have been rejected. The process for returning these documents depends on the circumstances of the person's case.

Asylum/Immigration

Richard Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  whether the immigration and nationality directorate review of managed migration routes has resulted in (a) the suspension of and (b) delay to applications from Commonwealth citizens residing in the UK under the ancestral visa scheme for indefinite leave to remain;
	(2)  how many individuals from each Commonwealth country have had applications through the ancestral visa scheme for indefinite leave to remain (a) delayed and (b) suspended since the outset of the review of managed migration routes.

Tony McNulty: Concern about possible abuse of the UK ancestry route was identified during the course of the top-to-bottom review of managed migration routes launched by the Prime Minister in April 2004. The review found evidence of suspected abuse of the ancestral visa route from Zimbabweans, which has therefore resulted in suspension and delay of these applications. The suspension on decision making relates only to those UK ancestry cases submitted by Zimbabwean nationals and has affected approximately 300 indefinite leave to remain applications.
	It is only right that the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) should take all actions necessary to identify the level of abuse and put in place measures to prevent it, and I regret any delay this creates for bona fide applicants. However I am pleased to announce that the investigation is now at such a stage that consideration of UK ancestry cases from Zimbabwean nationals can now be resumed.
	We are currently consulting on a new points based system for managed migration to cover routes to work, study and train in the UK. As we develop the new system, we will consider how it relates to existing routes such as UK ancestry, and will assess the possible impact before making changes.

British Crime Survey

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of Londoners were recorded by the British Crime Survey as (a) having a high level of worry about violent crime, (b) perceiving local levels of disorder as high and (c) experiencing a high level of perceived anti-social behaviour in (i) 2002–03 and (ii) 2003–04, broken down by borough.

Hazel Blears: The British Crime Survey (BCS) is not able to provide estimates at more local-level than police force area (PFA). Regional data are however available.
	In 2003–04, 22 per cent. of people in the London region had a high level of worry about violent crime and 25 per cent. of people perceived a high level of disorder in their local area, compared to 29 and 34 per cent. respectively in 2002–03.
	Perceiving a high-level of disorder (also termed the overall antisocial behaviour measure) is defined here from responses to five disorder strands (the BVPI 122 measure). Perceiving a high-level of disorder has since been redefined, and is now derived from responses to seven individual disorder strands, see Dodd et al. 2004 (HOSB 10/04) for further detail.

Call Centres

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many call centres were run by his Department and its agencies in (a) 2003–04, (b) 2004–05 and (c) 2005–06 to date; and how many and what proportion of calls (i) were handled by an adviser, (ii) were received but abandoned and (iii) received an engaged tone in each year.

Charles Clarke: The Home Office has eight call centres as defined by the DTI and their performance since March 2003 is shown in the attached table.
	An abandoned call (also referred to as a lost call) is taken as one where the caller has hung up before an agent has answered due to the caller choosing to discontinue the call for any one of a variety of reasons, including wrong numbers and waiting times. No records are held in respect of the number of callers who received an engaged tone.
	The Home Office's central Public Enquiry Service and Adelphi Service Centre do not fall within the DTI definition of call centre.
	
		Home Office call centres volume of call received and performance
		
			  2003–04 
			  Calls handled by an advisor Calls abandoned 
			  Number Percentage Number Percentage 
		
		
			 Immigration and Nationality Enquiry Bureau 1,268,436  (13)—  
			 Work permits UK (13)— (13)— (13)— (13)— 
			 Nationality Helpdesk(14) (15)— (15)— (15)— (15)— 
			 Employer's Helpline 27,396 96.9 876 3.1 
			 MP's Hotline 22,252 97.6 552 2.4 
			 Central Home Office Switchboard (16)— (16)— (16)— (16)— 
			 Criminal Records Bureau 1,285,632 98 29,243 2.2 
			 Security Industry Authority(17) (18)— (18)— (18)— (18)— 
		
	
	
		
			  2004–05 
			  Calls handled by an advisor Calls abandoned 
			  Number Percentage Number Percentage 
		
		
			 Immigration and Nationality Enquiry Bureau 1,293 83.3 259,840 16.7 
			 Work permits UK (13)— (13)— (13)— (13)— 
			 Nationality Helpdesk(14) (15)— (15)— (15)— (15)— 
			 Employer's Helpline 82,470 94.8 4,560 5.2 
			 MP's Hotline 31,226 94.6 1,792 5.4 
			 Central Home Office Switchboard (16)— (16)— (16)— (16)— 
			 Criminal Records Bureau 1,350,399 97.3 37,6874 2.7 
			 Security Industry Authority(17) 155,590 97 (19)—  
		
	
	
		
			  2005–06 
			  Calls handled by an advisor Calls abandoned 
			  Number Percentage Number Percentage 
		
		
			 Immigration and Nationality Enquiry Bureau 782,397 88.5 101,426 11.5 
			 Work permits UK 33,500 46.1 39,500 53.9 
			 Nationality Helpdesk(14) 71,146 76.7 21,626 23.3 
			 Employer's Helpline 50,997 96.2 2,005 3.8 
			 MP's Hotline 18,134 92.3 1,509 7.7 
			 Central Home Office Switchboard 83,486 94.9 4,509 5.1 
			 Criminal Records Bureau 699,711 97.9 14,756 2.1 
			 Security Industry Authority(17) 101,215 89.0 12,545 11.0 
		
	
	(13) Unavailable
	(14) The Nationality Helpdesk became operated in January 2005.
	(15) Did not exist.
	(16) Data only available at disproportionate cost.
	(17) he SIA have established a linkline busy message for callers who would otherwise receive an engaged tone.
	(18) ot available
	(19) ot available for entire period.

Correspondence

Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter dated 6 April from the hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood, (acknowledgement ref B8243/5 dated 1 June) on behalf of Dr. Zade Limondein, Home Office reference H1080798.

Tony McNulty: The Immigration and Nationality Directorate replied to my right hon. Friend on 24 November.

Departmental Funding

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding was allocated by his Department to Hemel Hempstead constituency for (a) capital projects and (b) revenue funding in each of the last eight years.

Charles Clarke: The answer to the question is in the following table.
	The location where Government funds are spent is a matter for Departments to decide. Chapter 8 of Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis shows the outturn of public expenditure by region. However while, generally, there are no records of funding spent specifically on Hemel Hempstead there has been funding sent to Hertfordshire county council (CC) and similar equivalent bodies for which the following information is given. N/A means not applicable and except for the Home Office Police Grant and the Police Capital grant all the 1997–98 figures are the same as the 1998–99.
	
		Office For criminal justice reform £
		
			 Payment/grant name and type 2004–05 2003–04 2002–03 2001–02 2000–01 1999–2000 1998–99 and 1997–98 
		
		
			 Local performance and delivery support unit funding to Hertfordshire local criminal justice bd—revenue 131,200 40,000 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
		
	
	Note:
	The funding for 2005–06 is £175,810.
	
		Dacorum crime and disorder reduction partnership (CDRP) (including Hemel Hempstead) £
		
			 Payment/grant name and type 2004–05 2003–04 2002–03 2001–02 2000–01 1999–2000 1998–99 and 1997–98 
		
		
			 Crime Reduction Programme
			 Capital n/a n/a n/a (20)— (20)— (20)— n/a 
			 Revenue n/a n/a n/a (20)— (20)— (20)— n/a 
			 
			 Small Retailers in Deprived Areas
			 Capital n/a 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 
			 Revenue n/a 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 
			 
			 Partnership Development Fund
			 Capital n/a n/a 0 0 0 n/a n/a 
			 Revenue n/a n/a (21)1,550,000 (21)680,000 10,000 n/a n/a 
			 
			 Communities Against Drugs
			 Capital n/a n/a 36,890 36,890 n/a n/a n/a 
			 Revenue n/a n/a 71,610 71,610 n/a n/a n/a 
			 
			 Safer Communities Initiative
			 Capital n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Revenue n/a n/a 34,030 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 
			 Building Safer Communities Fund
			 Capital 40,785 39,790 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Revenue 110,271 107,582 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 
			 Home Office Regional Directors' Allocation
			 Capital (21)272,025 (21)272,025 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Revenue (21)735,475 (21)735,475 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 
			 BCU Fund
			 Capital n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Revenue (22)177,869 (22)177,869 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
		
	
	(20) The Crime Reduction Programme (CRP) was a multi-million pound intervention programme running for three years from April 1999 was never calculated down to constituency level. The effectiveness of each initiative was evaluated to add to the knowledge base of what works in reducing crime in England and Wales. Over £340 million has been committed to over 1,470 projects in England and Wales under the various initiatives that formed part of the Crime Reduction Programme. Figures are not available for constituency or CDRP level. The CRP funded projects rather than allocated money to CDRPs.
	(21) These figures are the regional figures for the whole of the Eastern Region, and cannot be further broken down.
	(22) These figures relate to funds allocated to the Western BCU within Hertfordshire police force.
	
		Drug strategy funding £
		
			 Payment/grant name and type 2004–05 2003–04 2002–03 2001–02 2000–01 1999–2000 1998–99 and 1997–98 
		
		
			 Capital Nil Nil Nil Nil n/a n/a n/a 
			 Revenue 6,393,000 5,316,000 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The funding for 2005–06 is £7,357,205.
	2. These figures are for direct annual expenditure for tackling drug misuse and include allocations to Hertfordshire drug action team from the following funding streams:
	Building Safer Communities
	Drug Interventions Programme Main Grant
	Drug Strategy Partnership Support Grant
	Pooled Treatment Budget
	Young People Substance Misuse Partnership Grant
	3. Figures for previous years are not available on a comparable basis.
	
		Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) £
		
			 Payment/grant name and type 2004–05 2003–04 2002–03 2001–02 2000–01 1999–2000 1998–99 and 1997–98 
		
		
			 Hertfordshire CC local authority grants adults and families 
			 Capital 0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a 
			 Revenue 1,144,392 1,552,552 1,287,715 4,083,041 4,513,420 2,409,669 n/a 
			 Hertfordshire CC local authority grants unaccompanied asylum seeking children 
			 Capital 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a 
			 Revenue 2,079,587 1,025,700 649,307 1,016,179 882,260 n/a n/a 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. IND Payments for 2004/05 are payments on account and subject to change.
	2. Figures for 1999–2000 grants for unaccompanied asylum seeking children were paid by Department of Health and not the Home Office's National Asylum Support Service. Figures for 1998–99 and 1997–98 are not available as they were not paid by not Home Office's National Asylum Support Service.
	
		Hertfordshire police funding £000
		
			 Payment/grant name and type 2004–05 2003–04 2002–03 2001–02 2000–01(23) 1999–2000 1998–99 and 1997–98 
		
		
			 Home Office Police Grant(24)
			 Revenue 66,003 64,816 61,940 62,172 60,647 51,868 48,343 
			47,466 
			 Police capital grant
			 Capital 1,716 1,493 1,345 1,234 1,254 1,842 1,266 
			1,044 
			 Specific grants(25)
			 Revenue 7,870 7,368 4,822 1,682 224 n/a n/a 
			 Capital 268 500 2,247 3,045 n/a n/a n/a 
			 
			 (Specific grants comprised of:)
			 Crime Fighting Fund 3,306 3,112 2,626 976 n/a n/a n/a 
			 DNA Expansion Programme 918 875 1,028 706 224 n/a n/a 
			 South East Allowance 7,555 1,340 1,007 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Basic Command Unit Fund 559 559 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Community Support Officers 652 609 161 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Special Priority Payments 854 580 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Airwave—Revenue 26 293 1247 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Airwave—Capital 268 0 1,247 3,045 n/a n/a n/a 
			 Premises Improvement Fund n/a 500 1,000 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
		
	
	(23) As of April 2000, the Metropolitan Police District was reduced in size by a transfer of responsibility for policing some areas to the surrounding forces, including Hertfordshire. These changes need to be borne in mind when comparing figures before and after April 2000.
	(24) General police grant includes Home Office police grants plus ODPM Revenue Support Grant and NNDR. The figures provided exclude the amounts from ODPM. Figures include £3.0 million in 1999–2000, £2.75 million in 2000–01, £627,000 in 2001–02 and £300,000 in 2002–03 for the transitional costs associated with changes in boundaries of the Metropolitan Police District from April 2000.
	(25) Specific grants include Crime Fighting Fund, DNA Expansion Programme, BCD Fund, South East Allowance, Community Support Officers, Special Priority Payments, Airwave and Premises Improvement Fund.

Departmental Press Office

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many phone calls his Department's press office has (a) received and (b) answered in each month since January 2004.

Charles Clarke: The Home Office does not collate data on the number of calls received or answered across the whole of the press office. However an automated call log system is in place for its Newsdesk which receives a significant proportion of calls from the press. Data on these calls, received and answered, from January 2004 until October 2005, is contained in the following table.
	
		
			 Date Calls received Calls answered 
		
		
			 2004   
			 January 6,348 5,916 
			 February 7,052 6,379 
			 March(26) 6,511 6,039 
			 April 5,816 5,457 
			 May 4,752 4,444 
			 June 5,794 5,214 
			 July(27) 6,890 6,054 
			 August 5,567 4,872 
			 September 5,031 4,444 
			 October(28) 5,110 4,539 
			 November 5,693 4,854 
			 December(29) 4,900 4,275 
			
			 2005   
			 January(30) 4,880 4,273 
			 February(31) 3,341 2,520 
			 March 5,642 5,079 
			 April 3,312 3,011 
			 May 3,290 2,998 
			 June 5,241 4,755 
			 July 5,003 4,549 
			 August 5,695 5,298 
			 September 4,722 4,377 
			 October 5,046 4,723 
			
			 Total 115,636 104,070 
		
	
	(26) The call total for 1 and 2 March 2004 may not be accurate.
	(27) The call total for 1 July 2004 may not be accurate.
	(28) The call total for 1 October 2004 may not be accurate.
	(29) The call total for 1 December 2004 may not be accurate.
	(30) Call data for 31 January 2005 is not retrievable and consequently is not included in the total.
	(31) Due to the Home Office's move from Queen Anne's Gate to 2 Marsham Street, the call log equipment was not in operation for the full month.
	Note:
	Due to data error, daily call logs for 1 and 2 March 2004, 1 July 2004, 1 October 2004 and 1 December 2004 have been added twice to the respective monthly totals. Additionally, data for 31 January 2005 is not retrievable and consequently is missing from that month's total.

Farj Hassan Faraj

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 16 November 2005, Official Report, columns 1259–66W, on Farj Hassan Faraj, when he expects to complete his consideration of Farj Hassan Faraj's immigration position; and under what powers he is being detained.

Tony McNulty: On 10 October 2005, the Italian authorities withdrew their extradition request for Mr. Farj Hassan Faraj.
	Mr. Farj was then transferred to immigration custody and continues to be detained under immigration powers. Mr. Farj's immigration position is currently under active review.

Funding (Milton Keynes)

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding was allocated by his Department to Milton Keynes for (i) capital projects and (ii) revenue funding in each of the last five years.

Charles Clarke: The answer to the question is in the following tables:
	The location where Government funds are spent is a matter for Departments to decide. Chapter eight of Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis shows the outturn of public expenditure by region. However the following information is given concerning Milton Keynes.
	
		
			  £ 
			 Payment/grant name 2004–05 2003–04 2002–03 2001–02 2000–01 
		
		
			 Race Equality Unit  
			 Connecting Communities Grant Round two funding to Milton Keynes Race Equality Council (REC): Revenue(33) 59,984 46,540 (32)— (32)— (32)— 
			   
			 Active Community Unit  
			 Capital Modernisation Programme funding to Milton Keynes Council of Voluntary Organisations (CVO): Revenue (32)— (32)— (32)— 175,000 (32)— 
			   
			 Immigration and Nationality 
			 Milton Keynes Council Local Authority Grants—adults and Families Revenue 152,396 433,032 503,178 1,082,188 1,851,130 
			 Milton Keynes Council Local Authority Grants—Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children Revenue 284,675 359,441 399,196 163,472 15,665 
			   
			 Drug Strategy  
			 Milton Keynes Drug Action Team—Revenue 1,546,000 1,384,000 (32)— (32)— (32)— 
			   
			 Criminal Justice  
			 Funding allocated by Local Performance and Delivery Support Unit to Thames Valley Local Criminal Justice Board, since it was established in April 2003: Revenue(34) 240,000 65,000 (32)— (32)— (32)— 
		
	
	(32) Not applicable
	(33) The 2005–06 funding is £55,984
	(34) Further estimated funding for 2005–06 is £303,672. No funding specifically allocated by the Local Performance and Delivery Support Unit to Milton Keynes. Funding has been provided to Thames Valley Local Criminal Justice Board but information is not held centrally on whether or not any of the revenue funding was spent specifically on Milton Keynes.
	Notes:
	1. The Drug Strategy Funding figures are for direct annual expenditure for tackling drug misuse and include allocations to Milton Keynes Drug Action Team from the following funding streams:
	Building Safer Communities
	Drug Interventions Programme Main Grant
	Drug Strategy Partnership Support Grant
	Pooled Treatment Budget
	Young People Substance Misuse Partnership Grant
	2. Drug strategy funding for Milton Keynes Drug Action Team in 2005–06 is £1,844,791.
	3. Figures for previous years are not available on a comparable basis.
	
		Crime Reduction Programme (CRP) £
		
			 Payment/grant name and type 2004–05 2003–04 2002–03 2001–02 2000–01 
		
		
			 CRP  
			 Capital (35)— (35)— (35)— (36)— (36)— 
			 Revenue (35)— (35)— (35)— (36)— (36)— 
			   
			 Small Retailers in Deprived Areas (SRDA)  
			 Capital (35)— 0 0 0 (35)— 
			 Revenue (35)— 0 0 0 (35)— 
			   
			 Partnership Development Fund (PDF)  
			 Capital (35)— (35)— 0 0 0 
			 Revenue (35)— (35)— (37)2,000,000 (37)680,000 0 
			   
			 Communities Against Drugs (CAD)  
			 Capital (35)— (35)— 122,782 50,976 (35)— 
			 Revenue (35)— (35)— 238,343 137,824 (35)— 
			   
			 Safer Communities Initiative  
			 Capital (35)— (35)— (35)— (35)— (35)— 
			 Revenue (35)— (35)— 67,467 (35)— (35)— 
			 Building Safer Communities Fund (BSCF)  
			 Capital 73,223 71,437 (35)— (35)— (35)— 
			 Revenue 197,973 193,145 (35)— (35)— (35)— 
			   
			 Home Office Regional Directors' Allocation (HORDs)  
			 Capital (37)347,436 (37)347,436 (35)— (35)— (35)— 
			 Revenue (37)939,364 (37)939,364 (35)— (35)— (35)— 
			   
			 BCU Fund  
			 Capital (35)— (35)— (35)— (35)— (35)— 
			 Revenue (38)187,755 (38)187,755 (35)— (35)— (35)— 
		
	
	(35) Not applicable.
	(36) The Crime Reduction programme (CRP) was a multi-million pound intervention programme running for three years from April 1999. The effectiveness of each initiative was evaluated to add to the knowledge base of what works in reducing crime in England and Wales. Over £340 million has been committed to over 1,470 projects in England and Wales under the various initiatives that formed part of the Crime Reduction programme. Figures are not available for constituency or CDRP level. The CRP funded projects rather than allocated money to CDRPs.
	(37) The figures relate to the regional figures for the whole south east region and cannot be further broken down.
	(38) The figures relate to allocated funds to Milton Keynes BCU within the Thames Valley police force area.
	
		Thames Valley Police Funding £000
		
			 Payment/grant name 2004–05 2003–04 2002–03 2001–02 2000–01 
		
		
			 Home Office Police Grant(39)  
			 Revenue 139,463 134,382 132,223 122,387 122,843 
			   
			 Police capital grant Capital  
			 Capital 4,311 3,505 (40)3,165 2,657 (40)3,124 
			   
			 Specific grants(41)  
			 Revenue 20,674 19,727 14,698 6,906 1,846 
			 Capital 540 500 3,013 6,138 (42)— 
			   
			 Specific grants comprised of:  
			 Crime Fighting Fund 9,929 9,451 7,980 3,856 713 
			 Rural Policing Fund 1,241 1,245 1,262 1,263 630 
			 DNA Expansion Programme 1,813 2,064 2,379 1,787 503 
			 Street Crime Initiative 1,348 1,348 1,500 (42)— (42)— 
			 South East Allowance 2,547 2,024 1,577 (42)— (42)— 
			 Basic Command Unit Fund 1,715 1,715 (42)— (42)— (42)— 
			 Community Support Officers 455 65 (42)— (42)— (42)— 
			 Special Priority Payments 1,574 1,141 (42)— (42)— (42)— 
			   
			 Airwave  
			 Revenue 52 674 (42)— (42)— (42)— 
			 Capital 540 0 2,514 6,138 (42)— 
			 Premises Improvement Fund (42)— 500 499 (42)— (42)— 
		
	
	(39) General police grants include Home Office police grants plus ODPM Revenue Support Grant and NNDR. The figures provided exclude the amounts from ODPM.
	(40) Includes an amount of Air Support
	(41) Specific grants include Crime Fighting Fund, Rural Policing Fund, DNA Expansion Programme, BCU Fund, Street Crime Initiative, South East Allowance, Community Support Officers, Special Priority Payments, Airwave and Premises Improvement Fund.
	(42) Not applicable.

Handcuffs

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance has been provided to secure training centres about use of handcuffs on trainees.

Fiona Mactaggart: Guidance on the use of handcuffs is contained in the manual on Physical Control in Care (PCC). It is for individual secure training centres to decide whether handcuffs will be used. As with all forms of physical intervention, it is necessary in each situation where handcuffs are applied to show that their use was reasonable in the circumstances.

Leave to Remain

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applicants from Poland have outstanding applications for leave to remain under the one-off exercise announced on 24 October 2003.

Tony McNulty: Up to and including 30 September 2005 there were 745 applicants from Poland with outstanding applications under the exercise.
	We will have completed consideration of the great majority of all outstanding cases by the end of April 2006.

Politically Exposed Persons

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many investigations by law enforcement agencies resulting from suspicious activity reports in relation to (a) corrupt activity overseas and (b) foreign politically exposed persons have been (i) initiated, (ii) completed and (iii) abandoned in the last 12 months.

Charles Clarke: This information is not held centrally.

Terrorism

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms are in place to monitor the operation by the police of detentions and arrests under the Terrorism Acts.

Charles Clarke: Schedule 8 of the Terrorism Act 2000 governs the treatment and review of persons arrested and detained under section 41 of the Act. There are appropriate safeguards in place and detention is subject to regular review.
	There is also a limited power to detain in the case of a stop and search under the Act. Section 45 of the Act confers the power to detain a person only for the amount of time reasonably required to conduct a search authorised by virtue of section 44 of the Act. The Home Office stop and search manual provides guidance to police on all forms of stop and search to ensure the powers are used fairly and appropriately.
	The use of counter terrorism powers are also subject to the same PACE codes of practice where appropriate and where specific counter terrorism guidelines are not already in place.
	Under the Act, the Secretary of State is required to place a report on the operation of the whole Act before Parliament at least once every 12 months. The powers in the Act are thoroughly reviewed by an independent reviewer, currently Lord Carlile of Berriew QC, to ensure they are necessary, proportionate and used appropriately by the police.

Departmental Assets

Michael Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 14 November 2005, Official Report, column 963W, on departmental assets, what the (a) five items of art and antique furniture and (b) freehold properties are; and what the (i) value and (ii) annual cost of insurance is for each item or property.

Jim Murphy: The five items of art and antique furniture valued on the basis of insurance value are:
	1. Set of five carved gilt wood armchairs worth £500,000.
	2. Carved gilt wood furniture suite worth £500,000.
	3. Harewood commode worth £350,000.
	4. White marble bust of Oliver Cromwell worth £350,000.
	5. Antique wooden table known as the "Treasury Table" worth £250,000.
	Insurance value represents our valuer's view of the likely cost of replacing the item valued with as near a comparable item as is available for purchase second hand. In many cases, direct replacement of the items would not be possible.
	The freehold properties stated at accounting net book value are:
	1. 22–26 Whitehall at a value of £42,351,345.
	2. 70 Whitehall at a value of £27,535,750.
	3. Admiralty Arch at a value of £25,932,875.
	4. No. 10–1, Downing street at a value of £23,625,942.
	5. Admiralty House at a value of £9,971,052.
	6. Emergency Planning College at The Hawkhills, Easingwold, Yorkshire at a value of £7,401,302.
	7. 36 Whitehall at a value of £7,111,243.
	8. 53 Parliament street at a value of £3,705,684.
	9. Civil Service Club, 13–15 Great Scotland Yard at a value of £3,079,655.
	10. Properties at Sunningdale Park, Ascot, Berkshire at a value of £2,182,391.
	These properties are valued on the basis of existing use value. The Government are unlikely to place certain of these properties onto the open market for sale.
	The Government do not purchase commercial insurance for the risks it faces as, in general, it is cheaper for the Government to cover its own risks.

Freedom of Information

Roger Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many Freedom of Information applications his Department has received; how many have taken more than 20 days to process; and how many of these gave rise to complaints about the time taken.

Jim Murphy: Between January and June 2005 the Cabinet Office received 967 Freedom of Information requests. Of these requests 157 took more than 20 working days to process but had an agreed extension and 180 took more than 20 working days to process with no agreed extension. The Cabinet Office does not hold information regarding the number of complaints about the time taken to process Freedom of Information requests.
	The Department for Constitutional Affairs is committed to publishing quarterly updates in relation to departmental performance under FOI, including information on both the volume and outcomes of requests. The bulletin for the second quarter was published on 30 September 2005 and can be found on the DCA website at http://www.foi.gov.uk/statsapr-jun05.htm and in the Library. The next bulletin will be published before Christmas, while an annual report will be published in early 2006.

Ministerial Travel

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much has been spent in each year from 1 May 1997 on ministerial travel, broken down by (a) provision and running costs of vehicular transport, (b) first class travel by rail, (c) standard class travel by rail, (d) first class travel by air, (e) club or equivalent class travel by air and (f) economy class travel by air.

David Cairns: My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office, has asked Roy Burke, Chief Executive of the Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA) to write to the hon. Member with details of the costs of ministerial vehicles provided to Departments in 2004–05. Copies of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
	For information for the financial years 2000–01 to 2003–04, I refer the hon. Member to the letters from the GCDA chief executive to the hon. Member for Buckingham (John Bercow) dated 10 January 2005 and to the then hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs (Howard Flight) dated 13 September 2003. Copies of these letters are available in the Library.
	In respect of overseas travel by Ministers, since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet ministers costing£500 or more during each financial year. The Government have also published on an annual basis the cost of all ministers' visits overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Library of the House. These report information for the financial years 1995–96 to 2004–05. Information for 2005–06 will be published as soon as it is ready after the end of the current financial year. Detailed analysis of other forms of ministerial travel could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the "Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers", copies of which are available in the Libraries of both Houses.

Aflatoxin

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the impact of EU regulations on trace elements of the chemical aflatoxin on African producers of (a) nuts, (b) cereals and (c) dried fruits.

Hilary Benn: DFID supports a multi-donor funded programme that assists developing countries in improving their expertise and capacity to analyse and implement international sanitary and phytosanitary standards. It is a joint initiative between the World Trade Organisation, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the World Organisation for Animal Health, and the Food and Agriculture Organization. DFID is the biggest donor, contributing £850,000.
	The programme responds to developing countries own priorities. Analysis of the impact of EU regulations on trace elements of the chemical aflatoxin on African producers, specifically on nuts, cereals or dried fruits would be supported through this programme at the request of African countries. This project, for example, supported a request from Malawi and Zambia to assist them to address post-harvest aflatoxin contamination in the paprika and groundnut sectors.
	The EC has provided technical assistance to developing countries to meet the EU regulations on aflatoxins and residues through seminars and technical workshops. Additionally a specific workshop for African countries will take place in Brussels next spring and there are additional opportunities for developing countries to get familiar with EU legislation on aflatoxins.
	DFID is currently strengthening its own capacity to assess the impact of existing and proposed EU sanitary and phytosanitary legislation, such as the regulations on trace elements of aflatoxin, for agricultural products on developing country producers.

Commission for Africa

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the time scale is for implementing the findings of the Commission for Africa report published in March; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: The Commission for Africa (CfA) report makes a wide range of recommendations with different time scales. When my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, launched the Commission for Africa (CfA) report on 11 March 2005, he committed to reflecting CfA recommendations in UK policy and proposed a mechanism to monitor implementation year by year.
	Many CfA recommendations have been reflected in commitments made by the G8 at Gleneagles and by the UN at the Millennium Review summit. The UK Government have regular meetings at ministerial level to discuss and monitor progress on G8 commitments and Commission for Africa follow up. The Prime Minister chaired such a meeting on 18 October and the next one is scheduled for 8 December.
	At the international level, the Africa Partnership Forum will be monitoring delivery of commitments on the basis of a Joint Action plan now being prepared. This will bring together the commitments of Africa and its development partners for the first time.

Consultants

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list the contracts awarded in each of the last five years to (a) Maxwell Stamp plc, (b) HTS Consultants, (c) the British Council, (d) Adam Smith International Ltd. and (e) the Crown Agents for Overseas Governments and Administrations Ltd.; and what (i) the purpose for which the contract was awarded, (ii) the total value of the contract and (iii) the total expenditure on hosting consultants in the recipient country for the project was in each case.

Gareth Thomas: I shall arrange for copies of the document entitled "Contracts awarded to Maxwell Stamp plc, HTS Consultants, British Council, Adam Smith International Ltd. and Crown Agents for Overseas Governments and Administration Ltd. between 2000–2005" to be placed in the Libraries of the House. The table detailed in this document does not include lower-value contracts issued by DFID's overseas offices, of which there is no consolidated central record. It would require disproportionate cost to produce a list of those contracts.
	Responsibility for arrangements and expenditures in the recipient country rests entirely with the consultants.

Departmental Websites

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will take steps to ensure the Department's websites attain the W3C AAA standard of accessibility for people with visual and other disabilities; and if he will set a target date for this standard to be achieved by.

Gareth Thomas: The DFID website (www.dfid.gov.uk) has been rated AAA for accessibility in a Government-wide report 1 , one of only four central Government sites to achieve this.
	It is DFID's policy to ensure compliance with the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, and Cabinet Office's e-government unit guidelines. Every HTML page that is published on the DFID website is checked using Bobby web accessibility checking software. Pages are only published when there are no errors at Priorities 1, 2 or 3. In 2005, our e-communications team was trained by the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) in order to ensure that we continue to meet best practice.
	DFID's two standalone country sites DFID India (www.dfidindia.org) and DFID Bangladesh (www.dfidbangladesh.org) will meet accessibility requirements when they are integrated into the main DFID site in 2006.
	1 Nomensa: "Web Accessibility in Central Government: An investigation into the Accessibility of 28 Central UK Government Web Sites" (January 2005)

Ethiopia

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what action he has taken in respect of the United Kingdom's aid to Ethiopia in light of recent events in the country; what plans he has for such aid; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: The UK has a planned programme to Ethiopia of £90 million this year and remains committed to reducing poverty in Ethiopia.
	Following election-related disturbances in June, I announced that I was putting on hold, a £20 million increase in Poverty Reduction Budget Support. No general budget support has been provided to Ethiopia from the UK so far this financial year. Following recent incidents in November, the UK is further reviewing its development assistance programme in close collaboration with other donors.
	The international donors in Ethiopia, including the UK, have issued a public statement (and a more detailed follow-up letter to the Government of Ethiopia) expressing serious concern about recent events, calling for restraint and dialogue, and announcing a review of development assistance.
	I have also spoken directly to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, expressing concern over the current situation and urging restraint.

European Commission Africa Communication

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the European Commission's Africa Communication.

Hilary Benn: The European Commission's Africa Communication "Towards a Euro-African Pact to accelerate Africa's Development", is a crucial contribution to the EU Strategy for Africa to be discussed at the December European Council. The communication was discussed by EU Development Ministers at the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) on 21–22 November and comprehensive conclusions were agreed in response to the communication. The conclusions are available under the title 2,691st External Relations Council Meeting on the EU Council website at: http://ue.eu.int/cms3_fo/showPage.ASP?lang=en.
	Development Ministers welcomed specific elements of the document, notably points on the themes of peace and security, governance, economic growth and trade, investing in people and development assistance. Ministers also identified specific priorities that they wish to see pursued in the EU Strategy to be discussed in December.

Lesotho

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much financial aid the United Kingdom Government have given to Lesotho since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: DFID's primary development objective in Lesotho is to assist the Government to implement its Poverty Reduction Strategy, published in 2004. DFID support focuses on: strengthening Government efforts to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic; raising revenue more efficiently; developing financial management capacity to deliver public services; improving the enabling the environment for investment and growth, food security and governance and co-ordinating efforts with other development partners to achieve poverty reduction outcomes.
	DFID's bilateral and multilateral financial aid to Lesotho since 1997 is set out in the following table.
	
		
			000 
			 Financial year Total bilateral gross public expenditure Total multilateral shares Grand total 
		
		
			 199798 4,986 2,507 7,493 
			 199899 4,166 2,164 6,330 
			 19992000 2,974 77 3,051 
			 200001 2,258 2,100 4,358 
			 200102 2,718 2,100 4,818 
			 200203 2,848 2,254 5,102 
			 200304 3,318 1,838 5,156 
			 200405 3,522 3,687 7,209

South Asia Earthquake

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the outcome of the conference in Islamabad on 19 November to consider further international assistance in relation to the South Asia earthquake.

Hilary Benn: I refer my right hon. Friend for Oxford, East to the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 22 November 2005, Official Report, columns 10406WS.

Pensioners

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to improve the situation of women pensioners.

Stephen Timms: We have made a number of changes that are improving women's pension position. Pension credit is helping millions of pensioners on low incomes, two-thirds of whom are women. And the state second pension is extending second-tier pension rights, for the first time, to women who are caring for young children or a disabled adult.
	We realise that, despite these successes, more needs to be done. Fairness is one of the key tests for a lasting pensions settlement for the 21st century. That is one reason why we published our report Women and Pensions: The evidence, to provide a basis on which to build consensus on the way forward and achieve fair outcomes for women.
	We are looking forward to the recommendations of the Pensions Commission on Wednesday. We will look to build on our successes in helping women pensioners when we come forward with proposals for reform next year.

Pensioners

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much on average pensioners in Wales receive in state pensions and benefits; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: The latest available information is in the following table.
	
		Average benefit income including state pension 200104 
		
			  Pensioner couples Single pensioners 
		
		
			 Wales 182 129 
			 Great Britain 173 126 
		
	
	Note:
	Based on average of three years of results from 200102, 200203 and 200304 Family Resources Survey uprated to 200304 prices.
	Source:
	Family Resources Survey

Pensioners

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what percentage of female pensioners in Wales are entitled to the full basic state pension; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: The information is not available in the requested format. The number of female pensioners in Wales who are in receipt of a full basic state pension as at 31 March 2005 is 177,900. This represents 49 per cent. of women in Wales who are getting any state pension or graduated retirement benefit.
	Notes:
	1. Data are taken from 5 per cent. extract of Pension Service Computer System, therefore figures are subject to a degree of sampling variation. They are also adjusted to be consistent with the overall caseload from the Work and Pension Longitudinal Study. 2. The figure for the number of recipients is rounded to the nearest hundred. 3. A full basic state pension (79.60 in 200405) is paid to those who fully satisfy the contribution conditions either in their own right or where applicable, on the basis of their late or former spouse's contributions.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate 5 per cent. sample.

Pensioners

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of women pensioners in Tamworth constituency are (a) in receipt of a full basic state pension, (b) in receipt of a basic state pension of (i) 75 per cent. to 99 per cent., (ii) 50 per cent. to 74 per cent., (iii) 25 per cent. to 49 per cent. and (iv) 1 per cent. to 24 per cent. of the value of a full basic state pension and (c) not entitled to any basic state pension.

Stephen Timms: The information is not available in the form requested as population estimates are not available at constituency level. The information in the table shows the number of women in receipt of basic state pension in Tamworth constituency.
	
		
			   Percentage of basic state pension Number of women as at 31 March 2005 in Tamworth constituency getting basic state pension 
		
		
			 100 per cent. 4,400 
			 75 per cent. to 99 per cent. 700 
			 50 per cent. to 74 per cent. 3,700 
			 25 per cent. to 49 per cent. (47)400 
			 Between 24 per cent. and 1 per cent. 0 
			 Total 9,100 
		
	
	(47) Based on very few sample cases and subject to a wide degree of sampling variation.
	Notes:
	1. Data are taken from 5 per cent. sample, therefore figures are subject to a degree of sampling variation. They are also adjusted to be consistent with the overall GB and overseas caseload from the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.
	2. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
	3. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	4. A basic state pension is not normally paid to someone who is entitled to less than 25 per cent. of a full basic state pension.
	5. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant Office for National Statistics postcode directory.
	6. A full basic state pension as at 31 March 2005 was 79.60.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate 5 per cent. sample.

Pensioners

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of women pensioners in Gravesham constituency are (a) in receipt of a full basic state pension, (b) in receipt of a basic state pension of (i) 75 per cent. to 99 per cent., (ii) 50 per cent. to 74 per cent., (iii) 25 per cent. to 49 per cent. and (iv) 1 per cent. to 24 per cent. of the value of a full basic state pension and (c) not entitled to any basic state pension.

Stephen Timms: The information is not available in the form requested as population estimates are not available at constituency level. The information in the table shows the number of women in receipt of basic state pension in the Gravesham constituency.
	
		
			   Percentage of basic state pension Number of women as at 31 March 2005 in Gravesham constituency getting basic state pension 
		
		
			 100 per cent. 4,900 
			 75 per cent. to 99 per cent. 900 
			 50 per cent. to 74 per cent. 4,200 
			 25 per cent. to 49 per cent. (48)500 
			 Between 24 per cent. and 1 per cent. 0 
			 Total 10,700 
		
	
	(48) Based on very few sample cases and subject to a wide degree of sampling variation.
	Notes:
	1. Data are taken from 5 per cent. sample, therefore figures are subject to a degree of sampling variation. They are also adjusted to be consistent with the overall GB and overseas caseload from the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.
	2. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
	3. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	4. A basic state pension is not normally paid to someone who is entitled to less than 25 per cent. of a full basic state pension.
	5. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant Office for National Statistics postcode directory.
	6. A full basic state pension as at 31 March 2005 was 79.60.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate 5 per cent. sample.

Child Support Agency

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many non-resident parents there are with outstanding Child Support Agency cases where the main source of income comes from self-employment; in how many of these cases money has been received since 1997; and what the average amount is of maintenance paid by (a) non-resident parents overall and (b) non-resident parents who are self-employed.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty to Mr. David Laws dated 28 November 2005
	In reply to your parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the chief executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many non-resident parents there are with outstanding Child Support Agency cases where the main source of income comes from self-employment; in how many of these cases money has been received since 1997; and what the average amount is of maintenance paid by (a) non-resident parents overall and (b) non-resident parents who are self-employed.
	Information relating to outstanding Child Support applications cannot be broken down by employment status. This is because cases may not have reached the point in the information gathering process where the employment status details are obtained. Where such applications are outstanding, no maintenance will have been received.
	Over the quarter ending August 2005, across all schemes, the average amount of maintenance received per case in which maintenance was due (via the collection service) was 328. The average amount of maintenance paid per case in which the non-resident parent was self-employed was 449.
	Notes:
	1. Quarterly figures are provided because this is consistent with the Agency's compliance measurement. It also takes account of the variations in NRP payment patterns which make it difficult to produce an accurate average over a shorter time frame 2. This excludes cases for which no maintenance was due via the collection service (e.g. cases with a nil liability and maintenance direct). 3. The figures quoted relate to the average amount of maintenance received per case, as opposed to the value of the average calculation. A non-resident parent can pay maintenance in respect of more than one case. 4. The figures for the self-employed presented reflect the status of the non-resident parent currently held on the system as of the last intervention by the Agency. This will not necessarily reflect the current status of the non-resident parent if the Agency has not been informed of (or not yet actioned) a change of circumstances. 5. Figures are rounded to the nearest pound.
	I hope you find this information helpful.

Child Support Agency

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the ratio between the annual costs of the Child Support Agency and the annual maintenance paid through the Agency has been in each quarter since 199596; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty to Mr. Laws, dated 28 November 2005
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the ratio between the annual costs of the Child Support Agency and the annual maintenance paid through the Agency has been in each quarter since 199596; and if he will make a statement.
	The figures in the table below are given on an annual basis, as reported in the Annual Report and Accounts. The information is not held on a quarterly basis. The table shows the ratio of net administration costs to maintenance paid. The net administration costs cover all activities, including both the assessment and collection of maintenance.
	
		
			  Agency annual costs ( million) Maintenance paid ( million) Ratio 
		
		
			 200405 325.60 578.70 1 :1.8 
			 200304 323.00 580.09 1 :1.8 
			 200203 294.30 570.69 1 :1.9 
			 200102 290.40 526.80 1 :1.8 
			 200001 250.00 498.86 1 :2.0 
			 19992000 260.30 457.44 1 :1.8 
			 199899 231.20 389.96 1 :1.7 
			 199798 225.90 298.80 1 :1.3 
			 199697 224.50 207.75 1 :0.9 
			 199596 199.30 128.63 1 :0.6 
		
	
	I hope you find this information helpful.

Child Support Agency

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the National Audit Office last signed off the Child Support Agency's accounts; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty to Mr. Laws, dated 28 November 2005
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the National Audit Office last signed off the Child Support Agency's accounts.
	Both the Agency Administration and Client Funds Accounts were signed by John Bourn, Comptroller and Auditor General of the National Audit Office, on 15 July 2005 and published on 20 July 2005.
	I hope you find this helpful.

Child Support Agency

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his Department's (a) target and (b) latest performance is for the time taken to process new Child Support Agency maintenance claims.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty to Mr. Laws, dated 28 November 2005
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his Department's (a) target and (b) latest performance is for the time taken to process new Child Support Agency maintenance claims.
	The Child Support Agency currently has not set a target time for processing applications. This is because the Agency currently has a backlog of work and is endeavouring to clear this as quickly as the necessary information becomes available.
	At the end of September 2005, the average age of new-scheme applications at clearance 1 was 180 days (26 weeks).
	Of those applications that had been cleared, 25 per cent. took 6 weeks or less; 22 per cent. took between 6 weeks and 3 months; 22 per cent. between 3 and 6 months; 18 per cent. between 6 months and a year; and 14 per cent. took a year or more. These figures exclude 80,000 applications that came through the Jobcentre Plus interface and have been cleared, but for which insufficient management information exists to enable age at clearance to be determined.
	I hope you find this helpful.
	1 An application is defined as cleared if the case is closed, a maintenance calculation has been carried out and a payment arrangement between the parent with care (PWC) and the non-resident parent is in place, the PWC is identified as claiming Good Cause or subject to a Reduced Benefit Decision or the application is identified as being a change of circumstances on an existing case as opposed to a new application.

Pensions

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will link the value of the basic state pension to average earnings.

Stephen Timms: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Mr. Donaldson) on 21 November 2005, Official Report, column 1678W.

Child Support Cases

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the written statement of 20 July 2005, Official Report, column 103WS, whether the 260,000 child support cases yet to be cleared include the backlog of new scheme cases mentioned by the Independent Case Examiner in her annual report 200405.

James Plaskitt: The type of new scheme cases described by the Independent Case Examiner in her annual report 200405 are included in the 260,000 child support cases yet to be cleared, as referred to in the written statement made by my right hon. Friend the former Secretary for Work and Pensions (Mr. Blunkett) on 20 July 2005, Official Report, column 103WS.

Civil Service

Michael Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total operating expense of the UK civil service was in the last period for which figures are available; how many civil servants are employed in the UK; and what the rates were in each year since 1997.

Des Browne: Spending on gross and net controlled administration costs for Whitehall Departments is shown in table 4 of the Public Expenditure Outturn White Paper 200405 (Cm 6639) which has been put in the Library of the House.
	Administration costs does not include MOD. However, the MOD civil pay bill for 200405 can be found in the MOD 200405 annual report (HC464).
	Spending on administration by the devolved Administrations is a devolved matter.
	Data on civil service employment levels can be found in table 1 of the National Statistics quarterly publication Public Sector Employment First Release, published on the ONS website. This publication includes figures since 1997. The latest release can be found at the following web address http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/pse0905.pdf.

EU Budget

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the UK's net contribution to the EU budget was in (a) 200405 and (b) 200506; and what he expects it to be in 200607.

Ivan Lewis: The UK's net contribution to the EC Budget in 200405 can be found in footnote 1 to Table 2 of the Provisional Expenditure Outturn White Paper (Cm 6639) published in July 2005. The Government's latest estimates for 200506 and 200607 can be found in Table 3.2 of the European Community Finances White Paper (Cm 6580) published in June 2005.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of stamp duty land tax returns were not processed in 200405 resulting in fines being levied, broken down by region.

Ivan Lewis: The following table lists the number of land transaction returns received by the Rapid Data Capture Centre at Netherton between April and October 2005 and the number which were returned to sender without being processed as the form omitted basic details. A regional breakdown is not available.
	
		
			 2005 Total received Total rejected Percentage rejected 
		
		
			 April 36,436 3,381 2.48 
			 May 147,221 3,127 2.12 
			 June 163,109 3,390 2.08 
			 July 152,174 3,993 2.62 
			 August 174,845 4,513 2.58 
			 September 148,555 4,387 2.95 
			 October 155,356 4,359 2.81 
			 Cumulative total 1,077,696 27,150 2.52 
		
	
	Under stamp duty land tax an automatic penalty will be imposed if a completed land transaction return and payment of the tax due are not received until after 30 days from the effective date of the transaction.
	In addition there are returns which are not returned to sender but which cannot be processed without further information being supplied. Such returns, if the original return is delivered on time, do not result in the imposition of a penalty if the information requested is supplied after the filing date.

Stamp Office

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many calls were made to the Stamp Office inquiry line in the last period for which figures are available, broken down by (a) region and (b) reasons for call.

Ivan Lewis: A table giving a quarterly breakdown of the number of calls taken on the stamp taxes inquiry line since 1 December 2003 is included in an answer I gave to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock) on 10 October 2005 at column 318W. Detailed analysis of regional origins of, and reasons for, these calls is not available.

Tax Credits

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many complaints he has received regarding miscalculated tax credit sums; how many people have had to pay back money after their tax credits were miscalculated; how much money has been overpaid as a result of problems with the tax credits system; and how much overpaid money from tax credit miscalculations (a) has been recovered and (b) remains to be recovered.

Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs does not hold information on the number of complaints received or the value of overpayments that specifically relate to the miscalculation of tax credits awards.
	For the value of overpayments, I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to the hon. Member for St. Albans (Anne Main) on 13 October 2005, Official Report, column 428.
	The Department's Code of Practice 26, What happens if we have paid you too much tax credit? describes their approach to overpayments and is available on the internet at: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/cop26.pdf

Tax Credits

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost of paying tax credit was as a percentage of each pound of tax credit paid in each year since 1999; and what the capital costs of administration of working tax and child tax credits have been to date.

Dawn Primarolo: The following table shows the cost of paying tax credit as a percentage of each pound of tax credit, which can be found in table 1 of the Annual Report and Accounts 200405.
	
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 19992000 3.29 
			 200001 2.94 
			 200102 2.53 
			 200203 (51)2.21 
			 200304 2.96 
		
	
	(51) Excludes costs of preparing for child and working tax credits, if these are included the ratio is 4.58 pence per pound paid.
	Note:
	A figure for total tax credits payments in 200405 and the cost of managing and paying tax credits can be found in note 3.
	Department for Work and Pensions' figures show the cost of managing and paying family credit was 66 million in 199697, 59 million in 199798 and 72 million in 199899. In these three years total expenditure on family credit was: 2,084 million, 2,326 million and 2,429 million. These figures imply that the cost per  paid of administering family credit was broadly in line with that for tax credits at about 3 pence.

Tax Revenue

Lembit �pik: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total tax revenue collected by the Government from British taxpayers and businesses was in 200405.

John Healey: Table C8 in Budget 2005 provides details of total tax revenue for the UK.

Tax Revenue

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the proportion of UK tax revenues raised in Wales in each of the last 10 years.

Dawn Primarolo: For years from 1997,1 refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Leominster (Bill Wiggin) on 22 November 2005, Official Report, columns 191415W.
	The information for years 1995 and 1996 are as follows:
	
		Estimate of taxes paid by households(53)  million
		
			  1995 1996 
		
		
			 Wales 3,052 3,187 
			 United Kingdom 86,252 87,070 
		
	
	(53) Taxes paid by households and non-profit institutions serving households.
	These figures show estimates of income taxes, council taxes and vehicle taxes paid by households and were produced by ONS for the estimation of sub-national gross disposable household income (GDHI). Sub-national GDHI was published in April 2005. No corresponding information is available on taxes paid by organisations, or on other taxes paid by households.

Arts Funding

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much Arts Council funding has been provided to organisations in the city of Cambridge in the last five years.

David Lammy: holding answer 24 November 2005
	The following information provided by Arts Council England provides a breakdown of the information requested.
	
		
			
			  200001 200102 200203 200304 200405 Total 
		
		
			 Regular funding for organisations 864,948 1,081,285 1,225,195 1,349,224 1,422,954 5,943,606 
			 Other funding for regularly funded organisations including grants for the arts and recovery 591,895 381,518 878,848 1,333,910 606,461 3,792,632 
			 Regional arts lottery programme (November 2000 to July 2003) (54)457,070 421,452   421,452 
			 Grants for the artsorganisations (25,000 and above)467,628 242,753 710,381 
			 Total 1,456,843 1,4628,03 2,525,495 3,150,762 2,272,168 10,868,071 
		
	
	(54) 200002 available only as a countywide figurenot included in final totals.
	In addition, the Junction has received 5,529,608 in capital grants up to 200405. The total Arts Council England funding to organisations in Cambridge during the period was 16,397,679.

Departmental Expenditure

Edward Balls: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department has spent on sports and recreation projects in (a) West Yorkshire and (b) Normanton constituency since 2001.

Richard Caborn: The table sets out the funding for sport and recreation projects that has been made available in the West Yorkshire region and the Normanton constituency since 2001 from both lottery and Exchequer sources.
	
		
			
			  Lottery Exchequer 
		
		
			 West Yorkshire 33,401,776 (55)2,035,176 
			 Normanton constituency 473,403  
			 Total 33,875,179 2,035,167 
		
	
	(55) 2,035,167 includes 1,630,167 Community Club Development Programme (CCDP) funding; this funding is not broken down beyond the regional level, so it is not possible to say how much, if any, was spent in the Normanton constituency. The 2,035,167 also includes two projects (50,000 Active School Development Officer and 60,000 Groundwork Trust) which were awarded to the Wakefield area of the West Yorkshire region. Details of Exchequer funding are not available at constituency level.

Licensing Applications

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what guidance she has issued on the circumstances that would require a person holding a charity fundraising event in their (a) home and (b) garden to need to apply for a licence.

James Purnell: My Department has not issued any specific statutory guidance, however it has issued supplementary advice and guidance on its website in respect of garden ftes and this information can be found at:
	www.culture.gov.uk/alcohol_and_entertainment/
	The provisions of the Act mean that garden ftes, or functions or events of a similar nature, are exempt from the requirement for a licence when providing public entertainment provided they are not being promoted or held for purposes of private gain. However, if alcohol or late night refreshment is to be sold, a licence will be required for those activities. These events would generally require a temporary events notice.

National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what review has been carried out of the effectiveness of the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts.

James Purnell: On 25 February 2004 the National Audit Office (NAO) published the findings of its value for money investigation of the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts. The NAO found that
	NESTA has established generally sound approaches to selecting which projects to support and to managing its portfolio of awards and two of its three funding programmes have done well to generate interest and applications.

National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the return on investment generated by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts has been in each year since its inception.

James Purnell: The return on NESTA's investments is listed as follows for both Fund A (NESTA's core endowment, invested on their behalf by the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt in accordance with NESTA's Financial Directions) and Fund B. (the Endowment's income, invested by NESTA), for each year for which audited figures are available.
	
		
			   000 
			  19992000 200001 200102 200203 200304 200405 
		
		
			 Fund A 11,618 11,599 9,006 8,005 9,189 12,852 
			 Fund B 161 591 656 -3,089 2,658 2,191 
			 Bank interest 20 23 49 47 70 90 
			 Total 11,799 12,213 9,711 4,963 11,917 15,133

Television Licences

Fraser Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many households in Houghton and Washington East are in receipt of free television licences.

James Purnell: TV Licensing, who administer free television licences for people aged 75 or over as agents for the BBC, are not able to provide geographical breakdowns of the number of free licences issued. However, the number of households with at least one person aged 75 or over claiming the winter fuel payment in the Houghton and Washington East constituency in 200405 was 4,490, according to Department for Work and Pensions records.

Bio-fuels Industry

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what grants will be available for those producers who wish to build new plant to supply the British bio-fuels industry.

Malcolm Wicks: There are no grants available from the Department of Trade and Industry towards the capital cost of building new plants to supply the transport bio-fuels industry. There may however be support available through Regional Selective Assistance. Support for research and development into transport biofuels may also be available under the Department's Technology Programme.
	Transport biofuels benefit from a duty reduction of 20 pence per litre, and the Department of Transport has recently announced its intention to bring forward a Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation to further stimulate the market for transport biofuels.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (Compensation)

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list (a) the names of solicitors and claims handlers who have represented clients under the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease scheme, (b) the number of cases handled by each organisation, (c) the number of complaints against each organisation and (d) the month and year in which each organisation began operating within the scheme.

Malcolm Wicks: 657 claimants' representatives firms have submitted claims under the COPD scheme. A table containing the answers to (a) , (b) and (d) above will be placed in the Libraries of the House. Complaints against solicitors are not a matter for the Department but for the Law Society.

Clear Skies Programme

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) schools and (b) other educational institutions received funding under the Clear Skies programme.

Malcolm Wicks: The information is as follows.
	(a) I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, Deptford (Joan Ruddock) on 16 November 2005, Official Report, column 1342W.
	(b) Four other education institutions have received grant funding under Clear Skies.

Flexible Working

James McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  how many respondents to the February 2005 consultation document Work and Families: Choice and Flexibility gave a response to question 22; and what proportion of those responses were supportive of the case for extending the right to request flexible working to parents of older children;
	(2)  how many respondents to the February 2005 consultation document Work and Families: Choice and Flexibility gave a response to question 20; and what proportion of those responses were supportive of the case for extending the right to request flexible working to carers of adults.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Government received 79 responses to question 20 of the Work and Families consultation, which asked what the case is for extending the right to request flexible working to carers of adults. Of these responses just over 90 per cent. were supportive of extending the law to carers of adults.
	The Government received 67 responses to question 22 of the Work and Families consultation, which asked what the case is for extending the right to request flexible working to parents of older children. Of these responses 80 per cent. were supportive of extending the law to parents of older children.

Gas Production/Supplies

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the total imported gas capacity in millions of cubic metres which will be available per average day in each quarter from Q1 2006 to Q4 2008.

Malcolm Wicks: The information requested is available within my right hon. Friend's First Report to Parliament on Security of Gas and Electricity Supply in Great Britain (July 2005). This can be found on the DTI's energy website: http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy and in the Libraries of the House.

Gas Production/Supplies

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the likely (a) average price and (b) total gas consumption within the UK for each quarter from Q1 2006 to Q4 2008.

Malcolm Wicks: Wholesale gas prices will vary on a daily basis, determined by market conditions. The Department has not made forecasts of quarterly gas prices.
	The Department's scenarios for future gas consumption were reported to Parliament in my right hon. Friend's First Report to Parliament on Security of Gas and Electricity Supply in Great Britain (July 2005). This can be found on the DTIs website:
	http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy

Liquefied Gas Imports

Alan Meale: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the projected levels are of liquefied gas scheduled to be imported into the UK for the next three years.

Malcolm Wicks: Great Britain has one operational LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) import terminal, at Isle of Grain. Two additional terminals, at Milford Haven, are scheduled to commission in 200708. Their projected import capacities are published in my right hon. Friend's First Annual Report to Parliament on Security of Gas and Electricity Supply (July 2005), available at: http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/publications/policy/sec_supply_ first_report.pdf.
	The actual flows of gas are a commercial matter.

Nuclear Energy

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department is taking to ensure the nuclear energy option remains open.

Malcolm Wicks: Maintaining nuclear skills and a research base are key areas for maintaining nuclear power as an option for the future.
	Cogent Sector Skills Council was launched in March 2004. It is taking a strategic view of the nuclear sector to ensure that education and training can meet the nuclear employers current and future needs.
	Opportunities for fission research are available as part of the Research Council's Towards a Sustainable Energy Economy initiative. Up to 6 million is being made available over four years.
	The UK is continuing to participate in the development of the next generation of reactors through the Generation IV International Forum (GIF) international research programme. DTI funding of 5 million a year has been set aside in 200607 and 200708.

Nuclear Energy

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate his Department has made of the time between ordering and completion of a new build nuclear energy power station.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department has carried out no assessment on the time taken to build a new nuclear power station since publication of the 2003 Energy White Paper.
	The following papers, which include a timeline on new nuclear build, were prepared for the DTI's Energy Advisory Panel and contributed to the keeping the nuclear option open work on the Energy White Paper:
	KNOO Scoping Paper (EAP 11.06.02P3)
	KNOO Summary Paper (EAP 01.10.02P3)
	KNOO Miniprojects
	These papers were placed in the Libraries of the House at the start of this year in response to a written parliamentary question from the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Peter Law) on 23 February 2005, Official Report, column 648W.

Nuclear Energy

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he made of the merits of making provision for nuclear power when introducing into Parliament the Bill for the Energy Act 2004.

Malcolm Wicks: The July 2002 White Paper, Managing the Nuclear Legacy: A strategy for action set out Government proposals for reforming nuclear clean up through the creation of a new public bodythe Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), and for reconstituting the UKAEA Constabulary (ABAC) as a standalone force independent of the nuclear industry.
	In part 1 of the Energy Act 2004 provisions were made regarding the Civil Nuclear Industry.
	There were primarily two areas which the Act made provision for:
	1. The establishment of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) was established on 1 April 2005, giving it responsibility for driving forward the clean-up of 20 UK civil nuclear sites.
	2. The establishment of the new Civil Nuclear Police Authority, which is responsible for the establishment and maintenance of the new Civil Nuclear Constabulary. This authority is directly accountable to the Secretary of State and these changes have provided improved governance arrangements and greater transparency.

Nuclear Inspectorate

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of fines levied by the Nuclear Inspectorate on polluters in preventing (a) further incidences of pollution by the polluters and (b) incidences of pollution from others who have not previously polluted; what changes are planned; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: Incidents at nuclear sites giving rise to environmental pollution are generally investigated by the Environment Agency (England and Wales) or SEPA (Scotland), though joint investigations with the Nuclear Installation Inspectorate are carried out if the circumstances demand it. Prosecution cases relating to environmental pollution incidents are usually taken by the appropriate environment agency.
	In cases of environmental pollution there are no statutory limits on the level of fines that a Crown court can impose. However, fines are only one of the adverse impacts of prosecution that serve as deterrents to potential offenders. The Environment Agency publicises cases where companies have received heavy fines in its annual Spotlight on Business Performance publication to ensure the message is received by others.
	The Environmental Audit Committee considered the issue of fines and sentencing practice in 2004 and recommended that fines should be raised for environmental crimes. (House of Commons, Environmental Audit Committee: Environmental Crime and the Courts. Sixth Report of Session 200304). The Environment Agency has indicated that it is in broad agreement with this recommendation.

Oil Stocks

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether there is a difference between the levels of compulsory strategic oil stocks required to be held by companies refining in the UK and those that import; and what discussions have taken place regarding the retaining of a differential under plans to simplify UK compulsory strategic oil stockholding arrangements.

Malcolm Wicks: The UK meets its international obligations to hold stocks of oil for use in the event of disruption of supplies by imposing obligations on commercial companies. These obligations are currently based on companies' deliveries into final consumption, and we impose a heavier obligation on oil company refiners than on other companies.
	Under our proposed new system, where the obligations will be based on products from refineries or entering the UK as imports, our aim is to establish a system which is fair to all parties, transparent and simple to administer. My Department issued a public consultation on the future of the UK oil stocking system in December 2003 and has since then had a series of discussions of this and other issues with interested business sectors.

Pakistan

Shahid Malik: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the Government will urge the European Union to include Pakistan in its Generalised System of Preferences Plus scheme, following the earthquake.

Ian Pearson: The UK is fully committed to doing what we can to help Pakistan recover from the impact that the earthquake has had on its industry. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has written to EU Heads of State to encourage them to consider trade measures which could assist Pakistan following the earthquake. These trade measures include the Generalised System of Preferences Plus scheme, among others.

Postcodes

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of (a) the number of errors and (b) the number of properties not identified in the Postcode Address File (i) in 2005 and (ii) in the 2001 Census.

Barry Gardiner: The management of the Postcode Address File (PAF) is an operational matter for Royal Mail. I have therefore asked the Chief Executive of Royal Mail, Adam Crozier, to provide a direct reply to the hon. Member.
	I understand from the Office for National Statistics that the PAF was not used directly as the basis for the enumeration of the 2001 Census. The enumeration planning was conducted using the August 1998 version of the AddressPoint, which is an Ordnance Survey product that uses the PAF.

Renewable Energy

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to support (a) schools and (b) other community ventures with regard to renewable energy projects.

Malcolm Wicks: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Norman Lamb) on 16 November 2005, Official Report, column 1356W.

Social Enterprises

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to encourage the growth of social enterprises in the most deprived areas of Tamworth constituency.

Alun Michael: In July 2002 the DTI published the Government's social enterprise strategy: 'Social Enterprise: A Strategy for Success'. The Government's vision is of
	dynamic and sustainable social enterprise strengthening an inclusive and growing economy.
	The strategy sets out how successful social enterprises can play an important role in helping deliver on many of the Government's key policies.
	In 2004, Advantage West Midlands funded the development of a framework to guide investment in the social enterprise sector over the next 10 years and the resulting West Midlands social enterprise framework, provides a West Midlands perspective to the DTI's national social enterprise strategy. The framework is designed to assist social enterprises across the West Midlands.
	Within the last two years Business Link Staffordshire has provided intensive support to 47 social enterprises and basic information to many more. The way that the Business Link code their services make it impossible for these statistics to be disaggregated within Staffordshire. Supporting the growth of social enterprises within Tamworth and the rest of Staffordshire will remain an important part of the Business Link's support and development of Staffordshire businesses.

Social Enterprises

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  how many new jobs have been created through social enterprise in (a) Staffordshire and (b) Tamworth since 1997;
	(2)  how much Government funding social enterprises in (a) Staffordshire and (b) Tamworth have received in (i) the 200506 financial year and (ii) in 200405.

Alun Michael: Our support for social enterprise is provided through the Regional Development Agency in each region. To date, Advantage West Midlands, has invested more than 5 million on almost 100 regional and sub regional initiatives to support social enterprise. It has not been possible to disaggregate those project statistics on a sub regional level and AWM has not distinguished between jobs created by social and other enterprises. It has therefore not been possible to provide separate information on job creation in social enterprises.
	A key example of the assistance that has been provided through the projects is the advantage community loan fund which provides access to loans for community, social and 'not for profit' enterprises.

UK-US Trade

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the average tariff levied on (a) agricultural and (b) non-agricultural products (i) from the UK to the US and (ii) from the US to the UK was in 200405.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 21 November 2005
	Tariffs for the UK are those set at the European Union level. The latest data available is reported as follows2004 for the United States and 2005 for the EU. These are average applied tariffs, obtained from the World Trade Organisation Statistical database.
	(a) (i) average agricultural tariff applied by the US: 6.8 per cent.
	(a) (ii) average agricultural tariff applied by the EU: 5.9 per cent.
	(b) (i) average non-agricultural tariff applied by the US: 3.3 per cent.
	(b) (ii) average non-agricultural tariff applied by the EU: 4.0 per cent.

WTO Negotiations

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the likely effect of the EU's most recent offer in the World Trade Organisation trade negotiations on (a) applied EU non-agricultural tariffs and (b) services trade liberalisation.

Ian Pearson: The EU's second offer sought agreement on a simple Swiss tariff formula for industrial goods. This is a non-linear, harmonising formula that is effective at reducing high tariffs and peaks and narrowing tariff escalations. Such a formula would lead to a substantial improvement in real market access through cuts in the applied duties of developed and more competitive developing countries, on the understanding that developing countries should do less. The UK is working hard within the EU to ensure no new obligations are imposed on LDCs and that any NAMA agreement for developing countries respects the principle of less than full reciprocity and maximises Special and Differential Treatment. We recognise the importance for developing countries of maintaining flexibility.
	The EU proposal on services aims to substantially improve market access, and recognises a distinction between developed and developing countries in setting targets and the need for balance in the negotiations. The UK's established preference is for a settlement that avoids all new mandatory requirements on developing countries to liberalise services, and we will continue to work towards this goal. We are particularly determined to ensure the maintenance of flexibilities to reflect the individual circumstances of developing countries and preserve members' ability to respond to targets based on their own national policy objectives.

WTO Negotiations

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will press for trade justice rather than free trade at the meeting of the World Trade Organisation in Hong Kong in December.

Ian Pearson: In his open letter of 2 November to the Trade Justice Movement, the Secretary of State emphasised our commitment to securing the best possible deal for developing countries at Hong Kong.
	For ease of reference I set out the full text of his letter here:
	This has been a big year for international development. In June, Gordon Brown's deal with world finance ministers cancelled large chunks of the debt that has crippled the poorest countries and held back their development. In July, at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, the Prime Minister secured an agreement that pledged $50 billion extra in aid.
	The third crucial area with which to tackle world poverty is fairer trade. The World Trade Organisation talks in Hong Kong in December offer an opportunity for the world community to address the imbalances in the world trading system and to deliver an outcome that will enable developing countries to trade their way out of poverty.
	Trade offers huge potential for developing countries. Inequities in the world trading system disadvantage poor countries. Boosting Africa's share of world trade by just 1 per cent. could deliver seven times as much income as the whole continent currently gets in aid. So increasing the opportunity to trade is vital. But there are risks in trade liberalisation for developing countriesdislocation, job losses and income volatilityif it is done too quickly and not as part of a broader development strategy. So we oppose forced liberalisation.
	Today, as thousands of campaigners are lobbying Parliament to make poverty history by delivering trade justice, I want to record Government's support for your objective of no forced liberalisation. We want to ensure better access to Western markets, as well as removing the hidden barriers to trade faced by developing countries and other inequalities that remain in the world trading system.
	The Trade Justice Movement is asking the UK government to use its influence within the EU to deliver on four key concerns:
	 Stop pushing poor countries to open their economies through world trade talks. We agree. The UK believes that developing countries should not be forced to open up their markets either through trade negotiations or aid conditionality.
	Respect poor countries' right to decide on trade policies to help end poverty and protect their environment. We agree. It is for developing countries to make their own decisions on the timing, pace, sequencing and product coverage of any market opening in line with their own national development plans and poverty reduction strategies.
	Allow developing countries to shape trade policies that protect vulnerable farm sectors and promote national industries. We agree. A pro-development agreement at Hong Kong should include meaningful provision for special and differential treatment, including special products, that enables developing countries to promote food security, rural development and the protection of livelihoods.
	Allow countries to choose the best policies for poor people and the environment in services such as water, health and education. We agree. We strongly support the current voluntary arrangement for trade in services precisely because it allows liberalisation of services to take place in a way that supports national development plans. In the run up to Hong Kong, we are pushing other developed countries to ensure that the Hong Kong deal gives developing countries the flexibility that they need to plan and sequence trade reform in line with their national development plans. It may not be possible to deliver all that we would like to see, but we are committed to use our influence to secure the best possible deal for developing countries.
	It will be challenging to build the consensus around a package at Hong Kong that truly delivers on the promises of the Doha Development Agenda, but, as the Prime Minister has said, we will not let this opportunity pass without a monumental struggle.

Avian Influenza

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he has taken to provide vaccines for the armed forces in the event of an epidemic of avian influenza.

Don Touhig: On 20 July, the Department of Health (DH) announced its intention to purchase a limited amount of H5N1 vaccine as part of its ongoing preparations for a possible influenza pandemic in humans and the Ministry of Defence is ensuring that these plans take account of Defence needs. The MOD has ordered H5N1 vaccine from the DH, who have noted our requirement and included it in the tender bid. However, supplies of this vaccine are not currently available. Nor is it known with certainty that it would give protection against an influenza pandemic should the pandemic strain be a variant of the H5N1 influenza that is currently circulating in birds.
	The current MOD policy with respect to offering flu vaccine is based on the NHS policy of only offering it to specific groups of personnel (such as key workers in the Defence Medical Services), in accordance with guidelines in the Department of Health Green Book Immunisation Against Infectious Disease.

Defence Aviation Repair Agency  RAF Bases

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the likely effect the closure of the fast jet business at the Defence Aviation Repair Agency St. Athan will have on his Department's ability to meet a sudden increase in workload;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the capacity at the RAF's bases at (a) Cottesmore and (b) Marham to deal with a sudden increase in (i) Harrier and (ii) Tornado maintenance work.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 21 November 2005
	The concentration of logistic support 'forward' to MOBs is specifically designed to provide the flexibility to absorb urgent tasking in addition to scheduled maintenance and future upgrade work. Indeed RAF Cottesmore is currently undertaking additional maintenance of Harrier GR7 aircraft in support of operational flying in Afghanistan.

Departmental Finance

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the real terms percentage increase in allocated resources for his Department (a) was for the period 199798 to 200405 and (b) is estimated to be between 200506 and 200708 (i) for each period and (ii) for each year.

Adam Ingram: The period 199798 to 200405 covers the transition from cash accounting to resource accounting and budgeting (RAB). Using figures on a comparable basis, the defence budget has grown over the period 199798 to 200405 by 2.6 per cent. in real terms.
	For the period 200506 to 200708, the real terms percentage increase in the Defence total departmental expenditure limits is predicted to be 2.7 per cent. The annual average growth for each year of this period is 1.4 per cent.

Iraq

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) servicemen and (b) servicewomen from Welsh regiments have been (i) killed and (ii) wounded in military service in Iraq since 20 March 2003.

Don Touhig: Three members of Welsh Regiments serving in Iraq have died or been killed while on Operation TELIC, but owing to the nature of the operation, centralised casualty data have not routinely included the unit with which injured members of armed forces serve.

Nuclear Weapons

Peter Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with the US Administration on the replacement of Trident.

John Reid: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr. Julian Lewis) on 9 November 2005, Official Report, column 560W.

Aircraft Environmental Effects

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will reply to the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution's report The Environmental Effects of Civil Aircraft.

Karen Buck: The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution's (RCEP) report The Environmental Effects of Civil Aircraft in Flight was their response to the Government's 2002 consultation on the future development of air transport in the UK. The Secretary of State for Transport met the chairman of the RCEP, Sir Tom Blundell, in March 2003 to discuss the report. The report was one of over 500,000 responses to the consultation, which informed decisions on The Future of Air Transport White Paper published in December 2003.

Airline Failures

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of UK passengers stranded overseas as a result of failure of UK and European airlines in each year since 2000.

Karen Buck: When EUjet failed in July 2005 about 12,000 of its customers were overseas and had to make other arrangements to return to the UK. As stated to the House of Commons Transport Committee on 2 November 2005, the Government was not called upon to repatriate any of these individuals. The Department does not hold data on previous incidents.

Consultants

George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how much his Department has spent on information technology consultants in each year since 1998;
	(2)  how much his Department has spent on transport consultancy services in each year since 1998.

Karen Buck: The Department was formed in May 2002. A breakdown of spend by the Department and its executive agencies is shown in the following table:
	
		
			
			 Financial Year IT consultants Transport consultants 
		
		
			 DfT(C)(57)   
			 200203 283,792 (58) 
			 200304 5,252,861 (58) 
			 200405 6,914,935 (58) 
			 200506 3,598,656 (58) 
			 VOSA(59)   
			 200203 n/a n/a 
			 200304 1,084,383 195,147 
			 200405 424,390 195,028 
			 200506 388,242 134,446 
			
			 DVLA(60)   
			 200203 1,038,000 0 
			 200304 1,511,000 0 
			 200405 1,823,000 0 
			 200506 512,000 0 
			
			 MCA 0 0 
			
			 Highways Agency(61)   
			 200203 4,887,110 30,610 
			 200304 6,619,772 637,518 
			 200405 7,130,722 937,972 
			 200506 4,115,598 668,592 
			
			 VCA   
			 200203 108,519 0 
			 200304 81,026 0 
			 200405 70,396 0 
			 200506 50,509 0 
			
			 DSA(62)   
			 200203 n/a (58) 
			 200304 113,140 (58) 
			 200405 552,253 (58) 
			 200506 101,938 (58) 
		
	
	(57) Committed spend. The 200203 figure for IT consultancy may be understated due to changes in the accounting system when the Department was created. The effect of this is that many IT consultancy orders were charged to a general consultancy code and cannot now be identified separately without incurring disproportionate costs. Transport consultancy is not currently recorded separately in the central Department's accounting system.
	(58) Information not recorded in this format.
	(59) VOSA was formed in April 2003.
	(60) Spend on IT consultancy is not recorded separately by DVLA. The figures are the total spend with known IT consultants.
	(61) Highways Agency spend for 200203 may be understated because of the difficulty in matching categories to those used in previous accounting system.
	(62) DSA changed to a new accounting system in 200304. Information in respect of prior years is not readily available.

Departmental Salaries

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the 10 highest-paid employees in his Department, broken down by (a) job title and (b) salary including bonuses; and whether the individual concerned is (i) a civil servant and (ii) a contractor in each case.

Karen Buck: The salary bands (including bonuses) and the numbers in each band for the senior civil servants in my Department are given in the Department for Transport Annual Report 2005 Table B3. The salaries for contractors/consultants are not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many requests for information have been received other than from the police and local authorities under Regulation 27 of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/2742) citing reasonable cause in each month since the regulations came into force; how many were (a) acceded to and (b) refused in each month; if he will list the private companies who secured information in this way; and what the total financial receipts obtained by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency from this process have been.

Stephen Ladyman: The following figures represent the number of requests accepted monthly under the 'reasonable cause' provisions since 2002 are:
	
		200203
		
			 Month Number 
		
		
			 April 75,641 
			 May 76,890 
			 June 60,349 
			 July 77,963 
			 August 65,530 
			 September 73,498 
			 October 77,836 
			 November 74,323 
			 December 56,357 
			 January 80,331 
			 February 71,895 
			 March 77,772 
		
	
	
		200304
		
			 Month Number 
		
		
			 April 71,757 
			 May 71,100 
			 June 71,537 
			 July 79,375 
			 August 66,316 
			 September 74,859 
			 October 79,440 
			 November 70,721 
			 December 67,043 
			 January 74,317 
			 February 76,663 
			 March 86,535 
		
	
	
		200405
		
			 Month Number 
		
		
			 April 77,051 
			 May 73,464 
			 June 84,318 
			 July 78,633 
			 August 76,032 
			 September 80,289 
			 October 79,138 
			 November 86,984 
			 December 71,524 
			 January 85,196 
			 February 78,318 
			 March 89,613 
		
	
	
		Current year
		
			 Month Number 
		
		
			 April 82,889 
			 May 85,117 
			 June 88,589 
			 July 93,659 
			 August 85,997 
			 September 100,548 
			 October 84,882 
		
	
	The number of requests refused is not available.
	A list of all the private companies that secure information this way is not available. Requests are considered on a case-by-case basis. However, a list of private car parking enforcement is available. A list has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
	Revenue collected for all requests handled since 2002 is around 9 million.

Driver Vehicle Licensing Authority

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the total number of private cars in London registered with the Driver Vehicle Licensing Authority in (a) 19992000 and (b) 200405.

Stephen Ladyman: At the end of December 1999 there were 2,162,000 cars owned privately in the Greater London area. At the end of December 2004 the figure had risen to 2,365,000.

DVLA

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the national performance targets are for Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) offices and test centres; and what the performance of DVLA offices and test centres in Devon and Cornwall has been against those targets.

Stephen Ladyman: The following table shows the performance of the Exeter and Truro offices against the relevant internal targets for the current financial year.
	
		
			 Percentage 
			  April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 Year to date 
		
		
			 Cherished Transfer. Target 95 per cent. in seven days
			 Exeter 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 
			 Truro 98.56 99.04 98.76 97.22 97.62 97.8 99.39 98.34 
			 Customer complaintsto acknowledge all complaints. Target 100 per cent. in one day   
			 Exeter 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 
			 Truro 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 
			 Customer complaintsto provide substantive response to all complaints. Target 10 days   
			 Exeter (63) (63) (63) (63) (63) (63) (63) 55.0 
			 Truro (63) (63) (63) (63) (63) (63) (63) 66.05 
		
	
	(63) Figures are recorded as year to date only due to the low numbers received.

London Underground

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total legal and administrative costs since 1997 have been of changes to the status of London Underground.

Karen Buck: Since 1997 the major changes to London Underground have been the implementation of the Public Private Partnership and its transfer to Transport for London.
	The National Audit Office, in their report London Underground PPP: Were they good deals? and their evidence to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) (published in the PAC's Seventeenth Report of Session 200405 London Underground Public Private Partnerships) have provided detailed breakdowns of the London Underground's costs for the PPP. These can be summarised as:
	
		Breakdown of London Underground's PPP costs  million
		
			 Activity (Consultants/advisers) Cost 
		
		
			 Legal (Freshfields) 29.2 
			 Commercial (PricewaterhouseCoopers) 21.4 
			 Reorganisation (Arthur Anderson) 13.8 
			 ReorganisationEngineering (PA Consultants) 12.5 
			 Engineering advice (Ove Arup) 6 
			 Miscellaneous (project management, audit, insurance, property, pensions, technical and other advice) 26.5 
			 Internal costs 61 
			 Discounting by National Audit Office 10 
			 Unsuccessful bid costs 25 
			 Tube Lines successful bid costs 134 
			 Metronet successful bid costs 116 
			 Total 455.4 
		
	
	The Department's costs in relation to the PPP and transfer of London Underground are provided in the following table. These do not include the Department's internal costs such as staff and accommodation.
	
		
			
			 Activity Adviser Cost 
		
		
			 Review of LU grant requirement and value for money review Ernst  Young 884,000 
			 Advice on PPP Partnerships UK 652,000 
			 Legal advicePPP Herbert Smith 15,000 
			 Legal advicejudicial reviews Treasury Solicitors 47,000 
			 Legal advicepensions Herbert Smith 40,000 
			 Miscellaneous Various 125,000 
			 Total  1,763,000

Media Relations

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department spent on external media relations in each year since 2001.

Karen Buck: The Department has press officers who handle much of its media relations with the support of the Government News Network in the regions. In addition, the Department spent the following amount in each year since it was established on consultancy fees for external media relations, primarily to support our marketing activities, for example the THINK! road safety campaign.
	
		
			
			  DfT 
			  Central Agencies 
		
		
			 200203 496,004 302,250 
			 200304 357,146 503,788 
			 200405 438,210 373,328

Millward Brown Group

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department has paid to Millward Brown Group for consultancy advice in each year since 1997.

Alistair Darling: holding answer 22 November 2005
	The Department was formed in May 2002. The Department has made no payments to Millward Brown Group for consultancy advice.
	In common with other public and private sector organisations we do undertake research to understand the effectiveness of our communications. My Department has bought media research services from Millward Brown at a total cost of 248,031.40 since the creation of DfT to date. The reports are available on the Department's web site at: http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_foi/documents/divisionho mepage/041073.hcsp.

Mobile Phones

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of accidents caused by drivers using hand-held mobile phones since January 2003.

Stephen Ladyman: The information requested is not available. However, from 1 January 2005, information on contributory factors to accidents have been collected for personal injury road accidents reported at scene by a police officer. One of the factors is driver using mobile phone. Subject to quality tests, first results should be available in autumn 2006.

Project Cycleman

Peter Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps have been taken to implement Project Cycleman on the monitoring of road transport for illicit radioactive material; what has been the costs to date of this implementation; and whether the principles of protection established via experience with the project are being developed to apply to monitoring other modes of transport.

Charles Clarke: I have been asked to reply.
	Programme Cyclamen is a cross-governmental counter-terrorism initiative, which began in April 2003. It uses fixed detection portals at UK borders and mobile screening units covering all traffic types to detect and deter the illicit importation of radiological materials into the UK. The mobile units will be deployed primarily at UK borders, but can also be deployed inland. We cannot go into the specific details of the programme, but are working with key stakeholders to ensure that the impact of operations on legitimate traffic is kept to a minimum. For security reasons, we do not generally disaggregate spending on specific counter-terrorism measures or projects.

Public Service Agreements

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  when 2004 public service agreement target number four will be fully specified;
	(2)  when 2004 public service agreement target number one will be fully specified.

Stephen Ladyman: The information is as follows.
	Congestion target specifications
	The congestion target for urban roads (Department for Transport PSA 4) was published on 5 July 2005 in the Department's public service agreement. The target is that,
	by 201011, the ten largest urban areas will meet the congestion targets set in their Local Transport Plan relating to movement on main roads into city centres.
	Local authorities will publish final local transport plans containing targets in March 2006, so the public service agreement target for urban congestion will be fully specified then.
	The congestion target for strategic roads (Department for Transport PSA 1) was fully specified in the Technical Note published on 28 July 2005. This document is on the Department's website at: www.dft..gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_about/documents/page/dft_about_03057801.hcspP61_1195.

Railways

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many rail passengers used (a) Birmingham New Street, (b) London Victoria and (c) Liverpool Lime Street station in 2004.

Derek Twigg: The latest complete-year data published by Network Rail for these stations covers the 20045 financial year. Birmingham New Street was used by 30.5 million passengers, London Victoria by 92.5 million passengers and Liverpool Lime Street by 12.8 million passengers.

Road Charging (Tyne and Wear)

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  whether Tyne and Wear authorities will be required to implement (a) road charging and (b) pricing schemes as part of their proposals to reduce congestion;
	(2)  whether road charging is being considered for any part of the A1 Western Bypass in Newcastle and Gateshead.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 24 November 2005
	As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced today, the Tyne and Wear authorities have bid successfully for pump priming funding, to support the development of innovative packages of measures to tackle congestion. All of the seven bidders which are to receive pump-priming funding propose to explore the feasibility of road pricing in their areas among other demand management options. This work will help inform the development of a coherent national framework for road pricing. We are not however requiring the implementation of any particular scheme or solution.

Road Gritting

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the cost of road traffic accidents on (a) gritted and (b) un-gritted roads in each year since 2000, broken down by local authority area.

Stephen Ladyman: Although the Department for Transport does not hold information on actual costs incurred as the result of road accidents, it does estimate the value of prevention of road accidents in its annually published Highways Economics Note No.1. Estimates for the total value of prevention of all road accidents 200004 are as follows:
	
		Estimated total cost
		
			   million 
		
		
			 2004 18,004 
			 2003 18,094 
			 2002 17,760 
			 2001 17,420 
			 2000 16,959 
		
	
	The Department is unable to provide information on costs disaggregated by local authority and by gritted and un-gritted roads as this data is not collated centrally.
	The Department strongly recommends that local highway authorities carry out winter maintenance in accordance with section 13 of Well-maintained Highways: Code of Practice for Highway Maintenance Management published by the UK Roads Liaison Group earlier this year.

Road Traffic

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what were the total vehicle miles driven in London by private motor cars in (a) 19992000 and (b) 200405.

Stephen Ladyman: The total vehicle miles driven in Greater London by private motor cars, including taxis, are available for calendar years only. The figures for each year since 1999 are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Millions 
			  Vehicle miles 
		
		
			 1999 16,644 
			 2000 16,569 
			 2001 16,559 
			 2002 16,650 
			 2003 16,389 
			 2004 16,323

Road Traffic

Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how many road traffic accidents were caused by drivers falling asleep in the last year for which figures are available;
	(2)  what steps the Government are taking to alleviate road traffic accidents caused by drivers falling asleep.

Stephen Ladyman: Research for the Department has established that driver sleepiness is a principle factor in around 10 per cent. of all accidents and about 15 to 20 per cent. of all accidents on motorways and other similar roads.
	Separately, under a pilot scheme, 15 police forces collected data on contributory factors to accidents, 200004. The table shows the estimated proportion of accidents where driver fatigue was deemed to be a contributory factor.
	
		Estimated(68) percentage of accidents where driver fatigue was a contributory factor: by severity: 200004 Percentage
		
			  Fatal Serious Slight All accidents 
		
		
			 2000 5 2 1 1 
			 2001 3 2 1 1 
			 2002 3 2 1 1 
			 2003 4 2 1 1 
			 2004 4 2 1 1 
			  
			 200004 4 2 1 1 
		
	
	(68) Estimates are based on data from the pilot contributory factors scheme.
	As a result of the pilot, from January 2005, police nationally are reporting contributory factor data.
	The Department continues to research driver sleepiness topics and a publicity programme aims to help make drivers aware of the dangers of sleep related accidents using motorway variable message signs and through our THINK! publicity campaigns. Those include radio advertising, truck back advertising, partnership marketing and PR. Advice on how to avoid and combat driver tiredness is in the Highway Code and on the Department's THINK! road safety website at:
	www.thinkroadsafety.uk/advice/drivertiredness.htm
	A question on sleep disorders is included in the medical report that all lorry and bus drivers must submit when applying for a licence. In addition, those drivers who have a medical condition likely to cause them to fall asleep at the wheel are required by law to notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. Following such a notification, an assessment is carried out to determine whether the driver should retain his or her licence.

Roads (East Sussex)

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to announce funding for the Bexhill to Hastings link road in East Sussex.

Stephen Ladyman: We are currently considering a request from East Sussex county council for a funding contribution towards the preparatory costs for the Bexhill to Hastings link road. We will be informing the council of our decision in due course.

Trains

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many trains were overcrowded in each region of the United Kingdom in each year between 1994 and 2004, broken down by train operating company; and what the average percentage of passengers in excess of capacity (PIXC Factor) was for each month in each case.

Derek Twigg: The Department does not hold information on how many trains were overcrowded by region in the UK.
	Passengers in Excess of Capacity (PIXC) applies to weekday commuter trains arriving in London between 7.00 am and 9.59 am and those departing between 4.00 pm and 6.59 pm. The measure is derived from the number of passengers travelling in excess of capacity on all services divided by the total number of people travelling, expressed as a percentage. PIXC counts are carried out once a year, on a typical week day during the autumn. I have placed the appropriate tables in the Library.

Departmental Websites

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to ensure the Department's websites attain the W3C AAA standard of accessibility for people with visual and other disabilities; and if he will set a target date for this standard to be achieved by.

Ian Pearson: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) follows Government policy on publication on the web which means following the guidelines for UK Government websites and compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Version 1. Neither these guidelines, e-Accessibility communications from the European Union or advice from the RNIB have ever suggested that Government websites should attain and maintain Level AAA.
	The FCO websites have been designed to be as accessible as possible in line Government guidelines, which currently indicate that websites should meet Level A of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines that is the Priority One Checkpoints. They also identify a significant number of the Priority Two and Priority Three Checkpoints, from the Level AAA requirement, that have been deemed to be best practice. For example FCO websites use access-keys (P3 Checkpoint 9.5), provide a site map (P3 Checkpoint 13.3) and search facilities (P3 Checkpoint 13.7).

Human Rights

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what formal procedures are in place within his Department for taking into account for the purposes of UK foreign policy the human rights record of a country.

Ian Pearson: Human rights are mainstreamed within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). British missions abroad, geographic and relevant functional departments in London, are asked to monitor the human rights situations of the countries they are accredited to or work with, and to reflect this in their policy advice to Ministers, their project work and wider engagement with those countries. Mainstreaming is underpinned by regular training on human rights issues for FCO staff, and by support and advice from the FCO's Human Rights, Democracy and Governance Group.

Iraq

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many of the 13,500 detainees held by multi-national forces in Iraq are under the age of 18 years; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: holding answer 23 November 2005
	The number of security internees fluctuates due to the continuous review and release programme and the continuing need to detain individuals for imperative reasons of security. On 18 November 2005, the UK did not hold any individuals under the age of 18 years of the total (33) held by the UK. The US Government has told us that, on 14 November 2005, they were holding approximately 250 security internees who are aged under 18 years old.

Maldives

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place an immediate travel ban on members of the Government of the Maldives entering the United Kingdom.

Kim Howells: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave today (UIN 30906).

Sir Christopher Meyer

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether Sir Christopher Meyer submitted the manuscript of his recent book to his Department for (a) comment and (b) clearance; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: Under the diplomatic service regulations, which are based on home civil service codes of conduct, all former ambassadors remain bound by a continuing duty of confidentiality after they have left Crown employment. The regulations require that former members of the diplomatic service should consult their Department before writing memoirs based on their experience and should submit any part of them which draws on official information or experience for clearance by their Department before publication. Departments are required to assess texts for any harm to national security or defence; international relations; and confidential relationships within Government. The first two categories are based on the Official Secrets Act. The third category broadly reflects the common law of confidence. These categories were established in 1976 following the Report of the Committee of Privy Counsellors on Ministerial Memoirs chaired by Lord Radcliffe, which also set a period of 15 years for maintaining confidences within Government. In practice there is a high threshold to establish a breach of the regulations, which are based as much upon well established conventions and standards of conduct expected of all civil servants as on actual legal obligation.
	In the case of Sir Christopher Meyer's memoirs, there was no prior consultation by the author with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) before he entered into a commitment with a publisher and began writing. Following the appearance of a trailer for the book on the Amazon website in May, Sir Christopher Meyer was contacted by the FCO, reminded of the publication rules and repeatedly asked to submit his text to the Department when completed. In the event his book was only submitted to the Cabinet Secretary for comment by his publisher on 7 October, some four weeks before planned publication on 10 November.
	The Cabinet Office sent a copy of the book to the FCO and both Departments reviewed it against the standard criteria for clearing publications under the rules. The judgment, with which I agreed, was made on the particular facts of this case that no changes should be sought primarily because the book posed no national security risk; it contained nothing substantially new which we judged would harm relations with the US; and nothing was specifically identified that was considered so damaging as to require consideration of legal action.
	However, in his letter of 4 November to the publisher, the Cabinet Secretary made it clear that, while the Government had no comments to make on the book, it was disappointing that a former diplomat should disclose confidences gained as a result of his employment. The Cabinet Secretary stated that it was not the Government's responsibility to check the accuracy of remarks attributed to individuals in the book and emphasised that his response should not be taken to indicate any form of official or unofficial approval of the book. A copy of the Cabinet Secretary's letter has been placed in the Library of the House.
	By deciding to write and publish this book, Sir Christopher Meyer has broken the trust placed in him as a former servant of the Crown. As I have already said publicly, it is completely unacceptable for former senior civil servants or diplomats to break such trust in this way. It undermines the key relationship between civil servants and Ministers. It is greatly to be regretted that Sir Christopher Meyer has chosen to reveal the substance of conversations with individuals at the centre of sensitive issues, especially as those individuals would not have expected that information to be revealed so soon after the event or in such terms. His disclosures fall well below the standard of discretion expected of former Officials and the conventions set out in the Radcliffe report.
	I note from the comment on this book to date that this view is shared across a very wide political and public spectrum. It has also led to very great concern among the whole of the diplomatic service. The General Secretary of the PDAthe senior civil and public servants' unionhas described the book as utterly wrong and a fundamental breach of trust and confidentiality. The Chairman of the Diplomatic Service Association has called Sir Christopher Meyer's action in publishing
	wholly inconsistent with the high standards of professionalism and integrity of which the service is and should be justifiably proud.
	As many have said, including their noble Lords on 17 November 2005, Official Report, columns 118789, this case calls into question the effectiveness of current publication rules, which depend for much of their effect on norms of conduct and behaviour rather than laws. I am currently examining the relevant diplomatic service regulations with a view to making changes so as to ensure that they more accurately reflect the overall purpose of the regulations and conventions in this field. I hope to make an announcement soon. There is also a wider Government review under way as well as one by the Public Administration Select Committee.

Uganda

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the implications of the arrest of Kiiza Besigye in Uganda.

Ian Pearson: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Boston and Skegness (Mark Simmonds) and my hon. Friend the Member for Falkirk (Eric Joyce) on 22 November 2005, Official Report, column 1901W and to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Wakefield (Mary Creagh) today (UIN 30554). The UK, in common with our EU partners, views with deep concern the arrest of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) leader, Dr. Kiiza Besigye, and 22 others on charges including treason. The move to a pluralist democratic system in advance of the next elections in February or March 2006 is seen by the EU as a crucial step in the political development of Uganda. In this regard, the EU is concerned that all parties should be able, and be seen to be able, to compete in a fair and transparent manner. The UK therefore calls for the due legal process and protection guaranteed under the Ugandan Constitution to be made fully available to Dr. Besigye and the others charged, and for those charged to be granted an early, free and transparent trial.

At Risk Register

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children died due to mistreatment by an adult responsible for their care in each year since 1989; and how many were on the at risk register at the time.

Maria Eagle: The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) collect information on the number of deaths, illness and other events under Regulation 37 of the Care Homes Regulation 2001. Although CSCI's Regulation and Inspection of Notifiable Incidents database captures this information it is not possible to give a breakdown on the number of children that have died due to mistreatment by an adult responsible for their care as the database does not collect data by this specific category.
	Details are shown as follows of the number of children and young people on child protection registers at 31 March since 1989.
	
		Children on child protection registers at 31 March each year since 1989: England Numbers(69)
		
			  All children(70) Boys Girls 
		
		
			 1989 41,200 19,700 21,400 
			 1990 43,600 21,100 22,500 
			 1991 45,300 22,200 23,100 
			 1992 38,600 18,800 19,700 
			 1993 32,500 16,000 16,400 
			 1994 34,900 17,400 17,400 
			 1995 35,000 17,600 17,200 
			 1996 32,400 16,200 16,000 
			 1997 32,400 16,400 15,700 
			 1998 31,600 16,000 15,500 
			 1999 31,900 16,000 15,600 
			 2000 30,300 15,400 14,600 
			 2001 26,800 13,700 12,900 
			 2002 25,700 13,300 12,200 
			 2003 26,600 13,600 12,700 
			 2004 26,300 13,500 12,500 
		
	
	(69) Figures for the years 1989 to 1998 have been estimated and are derived entirely from those councils responding in sufficient detail.
	(70) Figures may not add due to rounding and the 'all children' figures including unborn children.

Building Schools for the Future Programme

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether assets, buildings and developments that are conventionally financed rather than by private finance initiative under the 'Building Schools for the Future' programme will be subject to the facilities management and maintenance arrangements agreed by local education partnerships.

Jacqui Smith: It is for the local authority as commissioner of services to determine the scope of services that it wishes the Local Education Partnership to be responsible for, including the provision of facilities management arrangements for conventionally procured schools.

Bullying

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures are in place to ensure that head teachers thoroughly investigate and act upon incidents of bullying; and if she will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: We attach a high priority to helping schools prevent and combat bullying: it is a serious problem which puts the emotional well-being and educational achievement of pupils at risk. All schools should treat bullying seriously and take steps to combat it promptly and firmly whenever and wherever it occurs.
	Since September 1999, head teachers of maintained schools have been under a duty to draw up measures to prevent all forms of bullying among pupils; this should include the making of rules and provision for enforcing them. Our detailed guidance Don't Suffer in Silence offers further advice on strategies and approaches schools can utilise in investigating and responding to incidents of bullying, alongside those that can be used preventatively. Additionally, many local authorities provide guidance on anti bullying to their schools to supplement and localise the guidance issued by the DfES nationally.

Bullying

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many cases of bullying were recorded in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Cumbria in each year since 1997; and what the average figures were for English county councils.

Jacqui Smith: As data on bullying are not collected centrally, we do not have statistics relating to incidents of bullying at primary and secondary schools in Cumbria, nor average figures for England. Schools and local authorities are increasingly carrying out local surveys of children and young people's views of bullying to inform the development of their anti bullying strategies. Bullying cases do appear to be reported more often now than before but we have no hard evidence that bullying is increasing or that it is affecting more children.
	However, any level of bullying is too high and we are determined to help schools tackle the problem. Our guidance Bullying: Don't Suffer in Silence, the anti-bullying charter and the anti-bullying website www.dfes.gov.uk/bullying offer detailed advice on preventing and addressing bullying. Additionally, we have undertaken a number of public awareness campaigns, including anti bullying week, to encourage and support children to 'tell someone' and seek help if they are being bullied.

Free School Meals

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of children receiving free school meals achieved five A*-C grades in (a) grammar schools, (b) non-selective schools, (c) academies, (d) city technology colleges, (e) foundation schools and (f) faith schools in (i) 2002, (ii) 2003, (iii) 2004 and (iv) 2005 where the proportion of children entitled to free school meals was (A) five per cent. and less, (B) greater than five but equal to and less than nine per cent., (C) greater than nine and equal to or less than 13 per cent., (D) greater than 13 per cent. and less than or equal to 21 per cent., (E) greater than 21 per cent. and less than or equal to 35 per cent., (F) greater than 35 per cent. and equal to or less than 50 per cent. and (G) more than 50 per cent. of the school's pupil numbers.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is given for 2002, 2003 and 2004 in the following tables. Figures for 2005 are not yet available.
	
		Percentage of free school meal (FSM) pupils(74) achieving 5+ A*-C at GCSE and equivalent(75) in 2002 by school type and percentage of pupils eligible for FSM
		
			   Percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) in school 
			   Number of schools 
			 Type of school Total number of schools(76) 05.0 FSM 5.19.0 FSM 9.113.0 FSM 13.121.0 FSM 21.135.0 FSM 35.150.0 FSM 50.1 or more FSM 
		
		
			 Grammar(77) 123 112 9 1 1 0 0 0 
			 Non-selective(78) 2,922 367 615 485 576 487 286 106 
			 Academies(79) 
			 City Technology Colleges(79) 13 0 4 2 4 3 0 0 
			 Foundation(79) 472 140 111 79 83 43 13 3 
			 Faith(80) 501 92 111 92 87 69 37 13 
		
	
	
		
			   Percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) in school 
			   Percentage of FSM pupils(74) attaining 5+ A*-C grades 
			 Type of school Total number of schools(76) 05.0 FSM 5.19.0 FSM 9.113.0 FSM 13.121.0 FSM 21.135.0 FSM 35.150.0 FSM 50.1 or more FSM 
		
		
			 Grammar(77) 123 94.0 95.8 83.3 100.0
			 Non-selective(78) 2,922 38.1 30.6 27.3 24.0 21.8 22.8 27.4 
			 Academies(79) 
			 City Technology Colleges(79) 13  70.8 84.0 83.9 65.6   
			 Foundation(79) 472 55.0 34.4 29.0 24.7 27.4 26.6 41.9 
			 Faith(80) 501 52.2 37.2 31.1 32.1 29.3 27.3 28.0 
		
	
	(74) Pupils aged 15 at the beginning of the academic year (i.e. 31 August 2001) that are known to be eligible for free school meals (FSM) from the Pupil Level Annual School Census (PLASC).
	(75) These figures include GCSEs and GNVQs only.
	(76) These figures only include schools with at least one 15-year-old pupil eligible for free school meals (FSM).
	(77) Grammar schools are community, voluntary aided, voluntary controlled and foundation schools with a selective admissions policy.
	(78) Non-selective schools are all maintained mainstream schools without a selective admissions policy.
	(79) Figures for academies, city technology colleges and foundation schools are also included in the figures for Grammar and non-selective schools.
	(80) Faith schools are all maintained mainstream schools with a listed religious character in the Annual School Census in 2002. Faith schools are also included in the figures for Grammar and non-selective schools.
	
		Percentage of free school meal (FSM) pupils(81) achieving 5+ A*-C at GCSE and equivalent(82) in 2003 by school type and percentage of pupils eligible for FSM
		
			   Percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) in school 
			   Number of schools 
			 Type of school Total number of schools(83) 05.0 FSM 5.19.0 FSM 9.113.0 FSM 13.121.0 FSM 21.135.0 FSM 35.150.0 FSM 50.1 or more FSM 
		
		
			 Grammar(84) 136 124 10 1 1 0 0 0 
			 Non-selective(85) 2,912 398 647 467 555 495 244 106 
			 Academies(86) 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 
			 City Technology Colleges(86) 15 0 4 3 4 4 0 0 
			 Foundation(86) 475 153 112 75 79 40 13 3 
			 Faith(87) 509 103 118 87 84 71 33 13 
		
	
	
		
			   Percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) in school 
			   Percentage of FSM pupils(81) attaining 5+ A*-C grades 
			 Type of school Total number of schools(83) 05.0 FSM 5.19.0 FSM 9.113.0 FSM 13.121.0 FSM 21.135.0 FSM 35.150.0 FSM 50.1 or more FSM 
		
		
			 Grammar(84) 136 91.3 90.2 62.5 95.7
			 Non-selective(85) 2,912 36.2 30.1 26.6 23.3 22.3 23.9 29.6 
			 Academies(86) 3  14.1  
			 City Technology Colleges(86) 15  65.1 79.4 88.4 63.7   
			 Foundation(86) 475 46.5 32.1 25.6 23.8 27.1 24.4 41.2 
			 Faith(87) 509 49.2 37.4 33.1 29.8 27.8 34.1 33.2 
		
	
	(81) Pupils aged 15 at the beginning of the academic year (i.e. 31 August 2001) that are known to be eligible for free school meals (FSM) from the Pupil Level Annual School Census (PLASC).
	(82) These figures include GCSEs and GNVQs only.
	(83) These figures only include schools with at least one 15-year-old pupil eligible for free school meals (FSM).
	(84) Grammar schools are community, voluntary aided, voluntary controlled and foundation schools with a selective admissions policy.
	(85) Non-selective schools are all maintained mainstream schools without a selective admissions policy.
	(86) Figures for academies, city technology colleges and foundation schools are also included in the figures for Grammar and non-selective schools.
	(87) Faith schools are all maintained mainstream schools with a listed religious character in the Annual School Census in 2002. Faith schools are also included in the figures for Grammar and non-selective schools.
	
		Percentage of free school meal (FSM) pupils(88) achieving 5+ A*-C at GCSE and equivalent(89) in 2004 by school type and percentage of pupils eligible for FSM
		
			   Percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) in school 
			   Number of schools 
			 Type of school Total number of schools(90) 05.0 FSM 5.19.0 FSM 9.113.0 FSM 13.121.0 FSM 21.135.0 FSM 35.150.0 FSM 50.1 or more FSM 
		
		
			 Grammar(91) 132 118 12 2 0 0 0 0 
			 Non-selective(92) 2,931 397 651 477 563 480 256 107 
			 Academies(93) 11 0 0 0 0 2 7 2 
			 City Technology Colleges(93) 14 0 4 3 4 3 0 0 
			 Foundation(93) 484 154 113 72 89 41 12 3 
			 Faith(94) 510 101 126 85 85 63 40 10 
		
	
	
		
			   Percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) in school 
			   Percentage of FSM pupils(88) attaining 5+ A*-C grades 
			 Type of school Total number of schools(90) 05.0 FSM 5.19.0 FSM 9.113.0 FSM 13.121.0 FSM 21.135.0 FSM 35.150.0 FSM 50.1 or more FSM 
		
		
			 Grammar(91) 132 91.2 86.4 91.7 
			 Non-selective(92) 2,931 39.2 30.4 26.5 25.0 23.8 25.9 32.6 
			 Academies(93) 11 44.4 20.6 7.5 
			 City Technology Colleges(93) 14  70.7 70.5 88.9 72.2   
			 Foundation(93) 484 51.9 32.1 26.8 25.5 29.4 25.2 43.7 
			 Faith(94) 510 53.6 38.0 33.2 32.8 30.6 36.0 27.6 
		
	
	(88) Pupils aged 15 at the beginning of the academic year (i.e. 31 August 2001) that are known to be eligible for free school meals (FSM) from the Pupil Level Annual School Census (PLASC).
	(89) These figures include GCSEs and GNVQs only.
	(90) These figures only include schools with at least one 15-year-old pupil eligible for free school meals (FSM).
	(91) Grammar schools are community, voluntary aided, voluntary controlled and foundation schools with a selective admissions policy.
	(92) Non-selective schools are all maintained mainstream schools without a selective admissions policy.
	(93) Figures for academies, city technology colleges and foundation schools are also included in the figures for Grammar and non-selective schools.
	(94) Faith schools are all maintained mainstream schools with a listed religious character in the Annual School Census in 2002. Faith schools are also included in the figures for Grammar and non-selective schools.

Free School Meals

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of children are eligible for free school meals in (a) primary non-faith schools, (b) secondary non-faith schools and (c) faith schools, broken down by (i) Church of England, (ii) Catholic, (iii) Jewish, (iv) Muslim, (v) Sikh, (vi) Hindu and (vii) other category of faith school.

Jacqui Smith: The available information is given in the table. In January 2005 there were no maintained Hindu schools.
	
		Maintained primary and secondary schools(95): number and percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals by religious character of school as at January 2005England
		
			  Primary Secondary 
			  Number on roll(96) Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals(96) Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals(97) Number on roll(96) Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals(96) Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals(97) 
		
		
			 Total 4,205,670 713,680 17.0 3,317,590 465,520 14.0 
			
			 Number religious character 3,000,460 565,650 18.9 2,793,930 401,560 14.4 
			 Church of England 775,680 85,020 11.0 168,960 18,230 10.8 
			 Roman Catholic 405,430 60,610 15.0 320,390 43,430 13.6 
			 Methodist 4,540 650 14.4 (98) (98) (98) 
			 Other Christian faith(99) 9,620 1,210 12.6 27,320 1,610 5.9 
			 Jewish 8,690 250 2.9 5,490 300 5.5 
			 Muslim 800 250 31.5 790 280 35.3 
			 Sikh 210 20 8.0 430 40 10.3 
			 Other 230 20 8.4 290 70 23.3 
		
	
	(95) Includes middle schools as deemed.
	(96) Includes dually registered pupils.
	(97) The number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals expressed as a percentage of the school population.
	(98) Not applicable, no schools of this type.
	(99) Includes schools of mixed denomination or other Christian beliefs.
	Note:
	Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. There may be discrepancies between the sum of constituent items and totals as shown.
	Source:
	Annual Schools Census

Further Education

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will reform career development loans to make them more accessible to further education students; and if she will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: Career development loans (CDLs) already provide support to students in further education (FE). We are aiming to test changes to CDLs to ensure that they are better able to support the aims of the 2003 Skills Strategy 21st Century Skills: Realising Our Potential, and in particular to make them more accessible to FE learners. We will be testing these new arrangements in 2006/07 and 2007/08 and evaluation of the outcomes will contribute to reform of the programme for the future.

Learning and Skills Council

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the actual expenditure was of the Learning and Skills Council in each year since its inception, broken down into (a) the categories in the grant letter of the relevant year and (b) the categories set out in the grant letter of November 2005.

Bill Rammell: The following tables set out the information requested.
	
		(a) Expenditure from 200102 to 200405 by the categories in the relevant grant letter(100)
		
			 Budget line Expenditure ( million) 
		
		
			 Financial year 200102  
			 Young People 2,411.5 
			 Adults 2,243.7 
			 Infrastructure (includes Capital) 463.4 
			 Administration 249.1 
			 Total 5,367.7 
			 Financial year 200203  
			 Young People 4,057.3 
			 Adults 2,427.2 
			 Standards, Initiatives and Capital 737.5 
			 Administration 236.7 
			 Total 7,458.7 
			   
			 Financial year 200304  
			 Learning Participation 6,272.1 
			 School Sixth Forms 1,525.40 
			 Local Intervention and Development 231.3 
			   
			 Capital 283.0 
			 Administration 238.1 
			 Total 8,549.9 
			   
			 Financial year 200405*  
			 Learning Participation 6,548.7 
			 School Sixth Forms 1,654.8 
			 Local Intervention and Development 125.9 
			 Capital 372.3 
			 Administration 232.9 
			 AME 20.8 
			 Total 8,955.4 
		
	
	
		(b) Expenditure from 200102 to 200405 by the categories in the 200607 grant letter(100)  million
		
			  Actual spend 
			 Budget line 000s/financial year 200102 200203 200304 200405 
		
		
			 A. Participation 4,459.1 6,128.7 7,177.1 7,578.5 
			 School Sixth Forms 0.0 1,399.1 1,525.5 1,654.8 
			 1619 FE 1,831.7 1,881.6 2,227.9 2,355.6 
			 Workbased Learning 684.6 816.8 1,065.5 1,104.7 
			 19 plus FE (includes LEA non-PCDL activity) 1,789.3 1,830.6 2,090.1 2,137.6 
			 National Employer Training Programme/ETP 0.0 7.1 32.7 89.0 
			 Personal and Community Development Learning (PCDL) 153.5 193.5 235.6 236.8 
			 Learners with Learning Disabilities and/or Difficulties n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Ufl/learndirect n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			  
			 B. Learner Support and Development 512.7 860.3 851.7 750.8 
			 Learner Support Funds 82.4 132.1 161.8 151.5 
			 1419, Skills and Quality Reform 430.3 728.2 689.9 599.4 
			 Capacity and Infrastructure 
			  
			 C. LSC Capital 146.8 233.0 283.0 372.3 
			  
			 D. LSC Administration 249.1 236.7 238.1 232.9 
			  
			 Total DEL expenditure 5,367.7 7,458.7 8,549.9 8,934.6 
			  
			 AME expenditure 0.0 0.0 0.0 20.8 
			  
			 Grand total 5,367.7 7,458.7 8,549.9 8,955.4 
		
	
	(100) The categories used in the various grant letters have changed from year to year, mainly because the line for Young People and Adults were merged into Learner Participation and new lines for Capital, School Sixth forms and Local Intervention and Development were introduced.
	Source:
	The LSC expenditure totals up to 200304 are consistent with LSC published Annual Accounts. For 200405 the expenditure is as signed off by the NAO and contained on the Annual Report and Accounts which are due to be laid before Parliament on 28 November and issued more widely a few days later.

Learning and Skills Council

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of the money saved by changes to the structure of the Learning and Skills Council will (a) remain in the further education budget and (b) be allocated to further education colleges; and if she will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: The LSC has announced its funding plans for the academic years 2006/07 and 2007/08 through its document Priorities for Success'. The plans include a significant transfer of funds out of centrally-held budgets in both the DfES and LSC for consolidation into core sector funding and they reflect an assessment of efficiency savings. They will deliver an estimated 3 per cent. cash increase on allocations to colleges, schools and providers in each of 2006/07 and 2007/08. There will be variations around this average and the LSC will be working with individual colleges, schools and providers over the coming months on the implications for their own budgets.
	The LSC is embarking upon a major transformation programme that will make it a smaller, more dynamic and more customer-focused organisation. It is currently in the process of consulting on the programme and will be developing its detailed plans once the consultation period has concluded.

Looked-after Children (Safeguards)

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the evidential basis was for the statement in her Department's guidelines Safeguarding Children in Whom Illness is Induced or Fabricated by Carers with Parenting Responsibilities, on the likelihood of it being the correct explanation for a child's symptoms is the involvement of carers and that the case should be referred to social services.

Maria Eagle: The Government's guidance, Safeguarding Children in Whom Illness is Fabricated or Induced (2002), focuses on children when there is a concern that the child is or is likely to suffer harm as a result of their carer inducing or fabricating illness. The key issue is the impact of fabricated or induced illness on the child's health and development, and consideration of how best to safeguard the child's welfare. The guidance emphasises the importance of carefully evaluating the child's signs and symptoms of illness in order to understand the reasons for them and that professionals should be open to all possible explanations. The question refers to the consultation version of this guidance, the final version of which has an amended title and content. The sentence in question sets out the process that should be followed when there is a concern that illness in a child might be being induced or fabricated. It relates to the previous section on the medical evaluation of a child's signs and symptoms.

Marshall Aid/Scholarships

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the operation of (a) the Marshall Aid Commemoration Act 1953 and (b) the Marshall Scholarships Act 1959.

Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply.
	The Marshall Aid Commemoration Act 1953 and the Marshall Scholarships Act 1959 form the basis of the operation of the Marshall Scholarships Scheme. The scheme is functioning well and in full compliance with both Acts.

Marshall Aid/Scholarships

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much her Department spent on Marshall scholarships in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has allocated the following funding, as Grant in Aid, to the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission, in order to provide and manage the Marshall Scholarships scheme:
	
		
			   
			  Total 
		
		
			 200506 2,178,000 
			 200405 2,083,784 
			 200304 1,962,000 
			 200203 1,960,915 
			 200102 1,833,743 
			 200001 1,694,610 
			 19992000 1,661,097 
			 199899 1,518,000 
			 199798 1,486,000 
			 199696 1,401,000

Ofsted Ratings

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of (a) faith schools and (b) non-faith schools have been awarded a (i) grade 3, (ii) grade 4 and (iii) grade 5 rating by Ofsted inspectors.

Jacqui Smith: This is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, David Bell, has written to my hon. Friend and a copy of his letter has been placed in the Library.
	Letter from David Bell to Dr. Ashok Kumar, dated 24 November 2005
	Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for reply.
	Dr Ashok Kumar (Middlesbrough South  East Cleveland): To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what percentage of (a) faith schools and (b) non-faith schools have been awarded a (i) grade 3, (ii) grade 4 and (iii) grade 5 rating by Ofsted inspectors.
	The tables attached show the percentage of schools by different levels of effectiveness, by faith and non-faith school, inspected during the academic year 2004/05. In addition to the specific grades you asked for, I have included 'grade 6', no schools fell into the 'grade 7' category.
	A copy of this reply has been sent to Jacqui Smith and will be placed in the Library of both houses.
	
		Overall effectiveness of primary schools: 2004/05 Percentage
		
			  Faith schools Non-faith schools 
		
		
			 Effective (grade 3) 48 50 
			 Fairly effective (grade 4) 26 28 
			 Ineffective (grade 5) 4 4 
			 Very ineffective (grade 6) (102) 1 
		
	
	(102) Indicates less than 0.5 per cent. but greater than 0.
	
		Overall effectiveness of secondary schools: 2004/05 Percentage
		
			  Faith schools Non-faith schools 
		
		
			 Effective (grade 3) 40 45 
			 Fairly effective (grade 4) 27 23 
			 Ineffective (grade 5) 4 5 
			 Very ineffective (grade 6) 1 2 
		
	
	Note:
	No primary or secondary schools were graded 7 2004/05.

Physical Education

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what definition she uses of high quality physical education and school sport in respect of the 2004 Public Service Agreement target number 9.

Jacqui Smith: The document, High Quality PE and Sport for Young People (DfES/DCMS, March 2004), provides a detailed description of the outcomes of high quality physical education and school sport. For the purposes of the joint DfES/DCMS PE and school sport public service agreement target, high quality PE and school sport produces young people with the skills, understanding, desire and commitment to continue to improve and achieve in a range of PE, sport and health-enhancing physical activities, in line with their abilities.
	A further document, Do You Have High Quality PE and Sport in Your School? (DfES/DCMS, January 2005), helps teachers to use the pupil outcomes of high quality to carry out self evaluation of the quality of PE and sport they provide. Copies of these documents have been placed in the house Libraries.

Public Service Agreements

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the timescales are for the achievement of all aspects of 2004 Public Service Agreement target number 14.

Bill Rammell: The precise wording of the 2004 Public Service Agreement target number 14 is:
	By 2010, increase participation in higher education towards 50% of those aged 18 to 30; and also make significant progress year on year towards fair access; and bear down on non-completion rates.
	Only the first part of the target, on increasing participation, has a specific timescale. We measure the other aspirations year-on-year.

School Councils

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of schools allow pupil participation in the running of the school through school councils.

Jacqui Smith: The Department for Education and Skills does not collect this data. The Government's commitment to the role of school councils is reflected in the recently published White Paper, Higher Standards, Better Schools For AH. The Government are working closely with School Councils UK, to produce guidance for primary schools. The guidance for secondary schools will also be updated to give stronger encouragement for school councils to be engaged in decision-making. We have asked School Councils UK to establish a network for schools and their councils to talk to each other and share good practice. School councils have a vital role to play, alongside better parental engagement, in promoting schools as strong community institutions.

Schools Inspection Framework

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she expects to introduce the new inspection framework; what representations have been made to her by schools on this framework; and if she will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: The new school inspection framework was published in July 2005 and came into effect from September 2005. The framework, and the new inspection arrangements more generally, were subject to extensive consultation and Mailing, and received widespread support from schools, parents and others.
	The Childcare Bill introduced on 8 November 2005 includes provision for a reformed and simplified inspection and regulation regime for early years. Subject to parliamentary approval, this will lead to changes in the inspection framework for all settings, including schools, catering for children aged 0 to 5 from 2008. There will be full consultation on the development of these new arrangements.

Teachers

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average pay of (a) primary and (b) secondary school teachers holding (i) education degrees, (ii) master's degrees and (iii) doctorates was in 200405.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not held in the format requested.
	Information on the average salary of teachers gaining qualified teacher status through undergraduate (education degrees) and post graduate (PGCE) routes into teaching was published by the department on 27 October 2005. The information was collected from a sample of teachers between three and a half and four years after they completed their undergraduate degrees in 1999. This shows that the average salary of teachers trained by the undergraduate route was 23,000 for primary teachers and 24,300 for secondary teachers. The figures for teachers with PGCEs were 20,700 and 21,900 respectively. The teachers may have entered teaching immediately after graduating or may have delayed entry. Teachers qualifying with a PGCE will generally have entered service later than those qualifying through undergraduate routes and will be on a lower point of the teacher's pay scale.

Under-achievement

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the impact of the home literacy environment upon underachievement (a) nationally and (b) by children from low socio-economic backgrounds.

Jacqui Smith: There is strong evidence on the importance of the home literacy environment for the achievement of children from all social backgrounds. Family learning schemes set up by the Adult Literacy and Basic Skills Agency in the mid 1990's, which focused on families with parents with poor literacy skills, resulted in sustained, statistically significant improvements in writing for both parents and children, and associated increases in their levels of confidence 1 .
	More generally, parental involvement in the form of at-home good parenting, which includes encouragement and participation in learning, has a significant positive effect on children's achievement. This is true even after all other factors shaping attainment have been taken into account. The impact is evident across all social classes and all ethnic groups. Good parenting helps shape the child's self concept as a learner and encourages high aspirations 2 .
	The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education Study found that the children whose parents actively engaged them in educational activities did better at the end of key stage 1 3 . Seventy per cent. of parents read to their children and almost three quarters think their role in their children's education is important 4 . However, the Skills for Life Survey showed that parents with lower literacy levels are much less likely to help and less likely to be confident in helping their children with reading 5
	In the light of such evidence the Department is actively supporting the development of literacy provision for adults, including family learning, within its Skills for Life programme. Other steps being taken to improve the home literacy environment for parents and their children from low socio-economic backgrounds in particular are outlined in my response to PQ no. 26092.
	1 Assessments include: Brooks et al Family literacy work Basic Skills Agency 1996.
	2 Desforges, C  Abouchaar A The Impact of Parental Involvement, Parental Support and Family Education on Pupil Achievement and Adjustment: A Literature Review. Research Report 433 DfES 2003.
	3 Sylva, K et al The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) Project: Final Report Sure Start/loE 2004.
	4 Moon et al Parental Involvement in Children's Education Research Report 589 DfES 2004.
	5 Williams et al The Skills for Life Survey: A national needs and impact survey of literacy, numeracy  ICT Research Report 490 DfES 2003.

University Grants

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of students from (a) Tamworth, (b) Staffordshire and (c) England beginning university in the 2005/06 academic year are in receipt of a grant from their local education authority.

Bill Rammell: The numbers of new entrants to higher education in 2004/05 domiciled in Staffordshire, and England, in receipt of a statutory grant are shown in the table.
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Staffordshire 1,900 
			 England 108,100 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Grants included are the Higher Education Grant, Adult Dependent Grant, Care Leavers Grant, Childcare Grant, Disabled Students Allowance (equipment, non-medical helpers, general, or travel), Lone Parents Grant, and Parental Learning Allowance.
	2. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest hundred.
	Source:
	Student Loans Company.
	Data are not available at a constituency level. Data for 2005/06 will be available in summer 2006.
	The percentage of students receiving a grant is not calculable as the corresponding underlying population data for 2004/05 will not be available until early 2006.

Council Bungalows

Ben Chapman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what guidance he has issued to local authorities on eligibility for those other than pensioners for housing in council-owned bungalows.

Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not issued guidance to local authorities on this matter.
	It is for local authorities to ensure that they make the best use of their stock to meet the housing needs in their district, including accommodation which is accessible or readily adapted for use by people with access needs.
	Local authorities must give reasonable preference to certain categories of people when allocating social housing, including those who need to move on medical and welfare grounds. The legislation has recently been amended to make clear that medical and welfare grounds include grounds relating to a disability. This was intended to ensure that people with access needs are given appropriate priority for social housing; and that accessible housing is allocated to those who need it most.

Design for Manufacture Competition

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 18 October 2005, Official Report, column 876W to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman), on Design for Manufacture competition, how many of the 430 affordable homes being built on former NHS sites under the Design for Manufacture competition will be (a) social rented units, (b) for sale under a shared equity scheme and (c) for sale at 60,000.

Yvette Cooper: In my answer of 18 October 2005, Official Report, column 876W, to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman), I stated the anticipated numbers of affordable housing units expected on each of the ten sites within the Design for Manufacture competition. It will not be possible to provide precise breakdowns of housing types and tenures until all final bids have been received and evaluated for all the sites, and planning processes completed.
	Successful developers were announced by the Deputy Prime Minister on 3 November 2005 for four of the Design for Manufacture sites. This included Renny Lodge in Newport, Pagnell which is 1.5 ha of former NHS land that is now within English Partnership's hospital sites programme. It is proposed that it will have a housing mix of 21 social rented units, 21 built at a construction cost of 60,000, with the balance out of a total of 68 units being for open market sale. The preferred developer here is SIXTYK Consortium led by Crest Nicholson.
	There are three other former NHS land sites in the competition: Park Prewett in Basingstoke, Linton in Maidstone and Rowan in Merton, London. Preferred developers for these sites are yet to be selected. However, it is envisaged that a good proportion of the homes on these site will be social for rent or other forms of affordable housing or shared ownership.
	English Partnerships is also looking at including homes built through Design for Manufacture in its First Time Buyers Initiative, making some of the houses for sale available for first time buyers under which eligible people will be able to purchase an initial equity stake in the homes, with the residual equity held by English Partnerships. The number of first time buyer homes on each site has not yet been agreed.

English Partnerships

Vera Baird: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  how much funding English Partnerships has allocated to local authorities in the Tees Valley for each of the next five years;
	(2)  which local authorities in Tees Valley have been in receipt of funding from English Partnerships in each of the past five years, broken down by amount.

Yvette Cooper: Distribution of English Partnerships investment nationally and including that in the Tees Valley is a matter for English Partnerships' Board, in accordance with their annual corporate plan priorities as approved by Ministers. Discussions are currently under way with English Partnerships on their future national programme and priorities for the years 200506 to 200809. Once these planning round discussions have been finalised, which is likely to be in the next two months, and Ministers have agreed English Partnerships corporate plan a summary of the plan will be published. Funding for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's programmes, including English Partnerships, for 200809 to 201011 will be dependent on the results of the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007.
	The following allocations have been made to local authorities within Tees Valley Regeneration in each of the last five years (all figures rounded to nearest 000):
	
		
			  200102 200203 200304 200405 200506 (annual forecast) 
		
		
			 Middlesbrough BC 269,000 23,000 1,452,000 2,459,000 19,000 
			 Hartlepool BC 0 116,000 621,000 1,429,000 1,760,000 
			 Stockton BC 812,000 250,000 1,127,000 5,826,000 3,143,000 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 0 0 0 4,000 0 
			 Darlington BC 0 0 0 0 0 
		
	
	In addition, English Partnerships has made the following investments in the local authority areas within Tees Valley Regeneration (all figures rounded to nearest 000):
	
		
			  200102 200203 200304 200405 200506 (annual forecast)(104) 
		
		
			 Middlesbrough BC 5,619,000 2,356,000 923,000 324,000 (104)2,760,000 
			 Hartlepool BC 1,000 706,000 105,000 126,000 (104)453,000 
			 Stockton BC 1,207,000 2,503,000 5,190,000 2,995,000 (104)1,487,000 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Darlington 0 0 177,000 1,639,000 (104)217,000 
		
	
	(104) There could be adjustments in the figures in 200506 between the two tables, as it is possible some spend for the remainder of the year on projects might be taken forward through allocation to the local authority rather than invested directly by English Partnerships.

English Partnerships

Vera Baird: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  whether English Partnerships funding is allocated (a) on a per capita basis to individual local authorities in the Tees Valley and (b) on a competitive bid basis to individual projects;
	(2)  what guidance he has issued on the relationship between the use of English Partnerships funding and private funding for council development projects; and whether the criteria for council development allow English Partnerships wholly to fund a building project;
	(3)  what the criteria are for grant funding by English Partnerships, with particular reference to the use of private finance.

Yvette Cooper: English Partnerships' funding is not allocated on a per capita basis to individual local authorities, nor through invitations to local authorities to bid in funding competitions. English Partnerships allocates its funding in accordance with its annual corporate plan and the priorities therein, as approved by Ministers. Investment decisions on specific projects are made in relation to a number of criteria, namely: the fit with their corporate plan; their available budgets; the quality and value for money of any proposed project; and its effectiveness in meeting sustainable communities objectives and the regeneration needs of the area. When considering the value for money of any proposed scheme, whether and to what extent the scheme attracts private sector investment, is among the factors which are taken into account. Attraction of private sector investment is also one of English Partnerships' key corporate targets.
	There is no guidance specifically on the relationship between the use of English Partnerships funding and private funding for council development projects. When assessing projects, English Partnerships follows guidance by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Assessing the Impact of Spatial Interventions: Regeneration, Renewal and Regional Development which covers guidance on assessing interventions in a way that rigorously identifies value for money. It also follows HM Treasury's Green Book Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government.
	English Partnerships may exceptionally wholly fund a project if it meets English Partnerships' criteria including fulfilling value for money considerations. In general, however, English Partnerships delivers its lead role in facilitating development through partnering with a range of public, voluntary and private sector bodies. Partnering allows for more efficient use of public and private sector investment, as well as bringing in a wider skills and experience base. It assists English Partnerships in focusing its activity where it can add most value and helps it to avoid replicating activities of the private sector or other public or voluntary bodies.
	As regards the use of private finance, whenever English Partnerships supports regeneration development projects it generally aims to involve the market, and private sector investment, to the greatest extent possible. Private sector investment and involvement are often more likely to ensure that a regeneration project can be self-sustaining in the long term, allows for more efficient use of public and private investment, and ensures that risks can be borne and managed by those best placed to bear them.

HomeBuy Scheme

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether any of the Government's HomeBuy schemes are planned to be piloted in Tamworth.

Yvette Cooper: At the present time it is not possible to say whether any of our new HomeBuy schemes will be piloted in Tamworth. I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for North East Milton Keynes on 21 November 2005, Official Report, column 1697W.
	The limited number of early Social HomeBuy pilots starting this year, in advance of the Housing Corporation's National Affordable Housing Programme for 200608, do not include any provision in Tamworth.

Housing

Clive Betts: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total capital receipts generated from right-to-buy sales were in (a) Sheffield and (b) Yorkshire and Humber in each year since 1980.

Yvette Cooper: The total capital receipts from right-to-buy sales of local authority dwellings in Sheffield and Yorkshire and the Humber in the years from 199697 onwards are tabulated as follows. These figures are net of discounts and are as reported by local authorities.
	
		Capital receipts  million
		
			   Sheffield Yorkshire and the Humber 
		
		
			 199697 7.6 59.8 
			 199798 7.3 70.9 
			 199899 7.4 75.8 
			 19992000 9.6 96.1 
			 200001 11.6 102.3 
			 200102 21.8 145.0 
			 200203 25.2 225.3 
			 200304 46.6 298.5 
			 200405 37.9 295.8 
		
	
	Source:
	Quarterly P1(A/B) return received from local authorities.
	The information for years prior to 199697 is not centrally available.

Housing

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the (a) function and (b) powers of the Audit Commission's Housing Inspectorate are; and what its budget was in the last year for which figures are available.

Phil Woolas: The Audit Commission has powers under section 10 of the Local Government Act 1999 to inspect a best value authority's compliance with Part 1 of that Act. Part 1 includes (among other things) a general duty on these authorities to make arrangements to secure the continuous improvement in the way that their functions are exercised, having regard to economy, efficiency and effectiveness. In addition, the Audit Commission has powers in relation to registered social landlords under the Audit Commission Act 1998. Sections 41A and 41B of the Audit Commission Act 1998 provide the Audit Commission with powers to carry out inspections of registered social landlords in relation to the quality of the services they provide and the arrangements they have put in place to secure continuous improvement in the efficiency, effectiveness and economy of those services.
	The Housing Inspectorate is part of the Audit Commission and undertakes its inspection activities under these powers. The expenditure for the Housing Inspectorate's activities for 200506 is projected to be 7.98 million. This is part of the Commission's overall budget of 224 million.

Retford and Worksop Fire Station

John Mann: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) fires and (b) road traffic accidents have been attended to by (i) Retford and (ii) Worksop fire station crews in each of the last five years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Information on attendance for individual fire stations is not held centrally by the Office. The data tabled as follows was provided by Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service.
	
		Fires and road traffic accidents attended by crews at Worksop and Retford fire stations, 200004
		
			  Fires Road traffic accidents 
		
		
			 Worksop   
			 2000 540 85 
			 2001 694 82 
			 2002 791 108 
			 2003 944 89 
			 2004 633 76 
			 Total 3,602 440 
			 Retford   
			 2000 320 86 
			 2001 324 81 
			 2002 387 104 
			 2003 511 105 
			 2004 300 122 
			 Total 1,842 498 
		
	
	Source:
	Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service

Temporary Accommodation (Families)

Tim Farron: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate his Department has made of the change in the number of families in temporary accommodation in the South Lakeland district council area since 2001; and what steps he is taking to reduce the number of families in temporary accommodation.

Yvette Cooper: Information provided quarterly by South Lakeland district council about its activities under homelessness legislation includes the number of households in temporary accommodation on the last day of the quarter, as arranged by the local authority. The number of these households which include dependent children or a pregnant woman has been collected since March 2002, and a summary of reported information is presented in the following table.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has made major progress in tackling the worst forms of homelessnessreducing rough sleeping by 75 per cent. since 1998, with reduction sustained at lowest recorded levels (2005 estimate-459), and ending the long-term use of bed and breakfast accommodation for families with children.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's strategy 'Sustainable communities: settled homes; changing lives' published in March 2005 sets out our aims to reduce homelessness further and halve the number of households in temporary accommodation by 2010.
	The full version of the strategy is available in the Library of the House or on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website at: www.homelessness.odpm.gov.uk
	
		Households in accommodations(106) arranged by South Lakeland district council under the provisions of homelessness legislation
		
			   All households Of which: containing dependent children 
		
		
			 31 March 2001 31  
			 30 June 2001 44  
			 30 September 2001 45  
			 31 December 2001 43  
			 31 March 2002 38 n/a 
			 30 June 2002 38 22 
			 30 September 2002 38 30 
			 31 December 2002 45 36 
			 31 March 2003 35 27 
			 30 June 2003 32 19 
			 30 September 2003 58 36 
			 31 December 2003 62 42 
			 31 March 2004 60 n/a 
			 30 June 2004 60 n/a 
			 30 September 2004 58 n/a 
			 31 December 2004 62 37 
			 31 March 2005 61 39 
			 30 June 2005 67 46 
		
	
	n/a = Denotes information not reported.
	(106) Households in temporary accommodation arranged by the local authority pending inquiries or after being accepted as homeless under the 1996 Housing Act.
	(107) Includes households where an expectant mother is present.
	Note:
	Data on households containing dependent children has been collected from March 2002.
	Source:
	ODPM P1E Homelessness returns (quarterly)

Trees

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will publish the results of the survey on trees in towns and cities in England.

Yvette Cooper: Work is drawing to a close on the preparation of the final report on the project Trees in Towns II. The report, which assesses local authority resources and practices in tree planting and management as well as the quality and quantity of trees in towns and cities in England, will be published in due course.

Delayed Discharges

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many delayed discharges for elderly patients due to non-availability of community-care packages there were in each health board area in 200405; and if he will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: The number of elderly (people aged 65 and over) who were regarded as delayed discharges during 200405 and whose reason for delay was No place or care package available is given in the following table for each Health Board area in Northern Ireland.
	Delayed discharge is bad for patients and is an unnecessary drain on acute hospital resources. A key component of health and personal social services reform and modernisation plans is the development of a range of integrated primary and community care services, specifically designed to prevent inappropriate admission to hospital and to reduce unwarranted lengths of stay.
	
		
			 Health Board Number of delayed discharges 
		
		
			 EHSSB 155 
			 NHSSB 140 
			 SHSSB 47 
			 NHSSB 47 
			 NI total 389 
		
	
	Source:
	Departmental Monthly Return DD1

District Policing Partnership

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost of each district policing partnership in Northern Ireland was in each of the last three years.

Shaun Woodward: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Belfast, East (Mr. Robinson) on 21 November 2005, Official Report, column 1632W.

District Policing Partnership

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what expenses have been claimed by elected representatives on each of the local district policing partnerships in each of the last three years;
	(2)  what expenses have been claimed by independent members of each of the local district policing partnerships in each of the last three years.

Shaun Woodward: The Policing Board has advised me that the following figures show the total expenditure on elected and independent members allowances and travel and subsistence expenses for each DPP in the last three years. The Board does not hold a breakdown of figures between elected and independent members and to gather this information would be at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 
			  200203 200304 200405 
		
		
			 Antrim 7,215 49,984 52,153 
			 Ards 8,678 55,229 54,960 
			 Armagh 7,457 56,543 53,783 
			 Ballymena 8,121 56,320 51,476 
			 Ballymoney 7,987 51,132 50,958 
			 Banbridge 7,011 49,571 48,978 
			 Belfast 16,406 100,017 92,128 
			 Carrickfergus 6,770 38,301 42,335 
			 Castlereagh 8,144 46,497 44,189 
			 Coleraine 10,299 51,476 52,068 
			 Cookstown 5,644 40,610 41,267 
			 Craigavon 9,151 51,099 51,384 
			 Derry 6,115 51,451 50,679 
			 Down 8,064 49,860 50,421 
			 Dungannon and South Tyrone(110) 4,176 0 10,324 
			 Fermanagh 9,555 54,509 53,724 
			 Larne 7,207 45,690 42,310 
			 Limavady 5,655 43,102 42,643 
			 Lisburn 10,498 47,302 50,326 
			 Magherafelt 4,114 51,464 48,113 
			 Moyle 6,319 45,546 44,071 
			 Newry and Mourne 10,577 55,286 54,083 
			 Newtownabbey 4,166 50,806 52,714 
			 North Down 3,879 50,540 52,170 
			 Omagh 6,270 42,020 42,336 
			 Strabane 6,921 41,260 40,264 
			 Total 196,399 1,275,615 1,269,857 
		
	
	(110) Dungannon and South Tyrone DPP was established December 2004. Initial training took place in 200203.

Doctors and Nurses

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) doctors and (b) nurses there were per head of population in Northern Ireland, broken down by health board, in each year since 1998.

Shaun Woodward: The information requested is provided in the following tables.
	
		Doctors employed within the NI HPSS per 1,000 head of population by health board area by year as at 30 September
		
			  Northern board Eastern board Southern board Western board 
		
		
			 1998 1.00 2.36 1.26 1.33 
			 1999 0.88 2.25 1.13 1.24 
			 2000 0.89 2.35 1.21 1.28 
			 2001 0.89 2.46 1.17 1.29 
			 2002 0.91 2.63 1.20 1.35 
			 2003 0.98 2.78 1.24 1.46 
			 2004 1.01 2.90 1.31 1.52 
			 2005 1.13 3.00 1.33 1.57 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The Mid-year HSSB Civilian Population Estimate for 2005 was not available, therefore the Mid-year HSSB Civilian Population Estimate for 2004 was used for 2005.
	2. Doctors include all Medical Staff employed within the NI HPSS at the following grades: Consultants, Associate Specialists, Staff Grade, Specialist Registrars, PRHOs, SHOs, Hospital Practitioners, General Medical Practitioners and Medical Officers.
	3. These figures exclude Primary Care General Practitioners.
	Sources:
	Doctor headcount figures: Human Resource Management System.
	Civilian population figures: Northern Ireland Statistics Research Agency.
	
		Qualified nurses employed within the NI HPSS per 1,000 head of population by health board area by year as at 30 September
		
			  Northern board Eastern board Southern board Western board 
		
		
			 1998 5.63 9.96 6.77 7.14 
			 1999 5.59 10.04 6.78 7.29 
			 2000 5.77 10.26 6.81 7.31 
			 2001 5.84 10.28 6.77 7.20 
			 2002 5.91 11.01 6.80 7.70 
			 2003 6.18 11.60 7.17 8.10 
			 2004 6.38 11.87 7.35 8.50 
			 2005 6.45 12.10 7.52 8.75 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The Mid-year HSSB Civilian Population Estimate for 2005 was not available, therefore the Mid-year HSSB Civilian Population Estimate for 2004 was used for 2005.
	2. Qualified Nurses include Midwives and Health Visiting Staff.
	3. These figures exclude Bank Staff who fill staffing shortfalls to maintain service delivery.
	4. Nursing figures are not available for staff working in General Practice Surgeries and are therefore not included.
	Sources:
	Nursing headcount figures: Human Resource Management System.
	Civilian population figures: Northern Ireland Statistics Research Agency.

Domestic Violence

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what funding has been made available to support victims of domestic violence and their children in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) Upper Bann in each of the last five years.

Shaun Woodward: The information requested is not available either by constituency or for Northern Ireland as a whole. Victims of domestic violence are supported by a range of agencies depending on their needs but individual cases of domestic violence are not tracked at present by the agencies involved, for example, within the criminal justice system and the health and social services. A new strategy for addressing tackling domestic violence in Northern Ireland, Tackling Violence at Home, was launched in October 2005. As the strategy is implemented, it should be possible in the future to track cases and associated costs across a range of public services.
	It is estimated, however, that the direct cost of services provided to victims (through the police, criminal justice system, health and social services care, housing support and civil legal cases) could amount to about 90 million each year in Northern Ireland. It is estimated that the loss of economic output in Northern Ireland due to the suffering of domestic violence victims could amount to a further 90 million each year. These estimates are based on an extrapolation of 2004 research figures for England and Wales on a pro-rata population basis.

Electoral Fraud

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the impact of the arrangements in Northern Ireland which allow electoral registration officers to consult Department for Work and Pensions databases as part of measures to tackle electoral fraud.

David Hanson: The Chief Electoral Officer has written to the hon. Member. The text of the letter is as follows:
	The process is one in which an extract of the registration information held in respect of every elector in Northern Ireland is compared against the DWP National Insurance Number (NINO) database using the NINO, date of birth and name provided on each individual registration form. There has been a full match in 94.6 per cent. of cases and the Electoral office is currently pursuing the reason for mismatches with the remaining 5.4 per cent. In many instances the mismatches have turned out to be simple transpositions on the part of electors, for example AB123465D being recorded at AB123456D.
	The Electoral office is of the view that the use of the NINO and subsequent checking against the DWP database has led to an extremely accurate Register in Northern Ireland with few if any illegal duplications or phantom entries

Housing

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the change in the total value of (a) current and (b) past tenant arrears of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive has been since 1995.

David Hanson: The following table details Northern Ireland Housing Executive's past and current tenant arrears between 1995 and 2005:
	
		
			 million 
			 As at 31 March each year: Current tenants debt Past tenants debt Total debt 
		
		
			 1995 11.888 1.827 13.715 
			 1996 11.270 1.715 12.985 
			 1997 11.155 1.638 12.793 
			 1998 10.833 1.658 12.491 
			 1999 11.474 1.890 13.364 
			 2000 12.327 2.269 14.596 
			 2001 14.690 2.668 17.358 
			 2002 15.310 3.717 19.027 
			 2003 14.934 3.954 18.888 
			 2004 14.639 4.442 19.081 
			 2005 13.729 4.022 17.751

Murders

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many persons convicted of murder in the Province during the current troubles in cases where all proceedings are complete (a) have been sentenced to terms of imprisonment of (i) less than five years, (ii) five to 10 years, (iii) 10 to 20 years and (iv) more than 20 years, (b) have been released otherwise than under the Belfast agreement having served terms of imprisonment of (A) less than five years, (B) five to 10 years, (C) 10 to 20 years and (D) more than 20 years and (c) have been released under the Belfast agreement having served terms of imprisonment of (1) less than five years, (2) five to 10 years, (3) 10 to 20 years and (4) more than 20 years.

David Hanson: In relation to part (a) (i-iv) for persons sentenced to life imprisonment, further details regarding actual sentence length are not held within the NIO court datasets. Therefore, as a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment applies in the case of murder. Table 1 provides only the number of persons sentenced in each of the years for which data is currently available.
	
		Table 1: Number of persons sentenced for murder: 1993 to 2003
		
			  Number sentenced 
		
		
			 1993 18 
			 1994 17 
			 1995 19 
			 1996 13 
			 1997 3 
			 1998 17 
			 1999 13 
			 2000 13 
			 2001 6 
			 2002 14 
			 2003 18 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures exclude attempts, aiding and abetting and conspiracy to murder.
	2. 1993 is the earliest year for which data are available. Figures for 2004 will be available in early 2006.
	3. The figures refer to all murders including non-paramilitary murders.
	Source:
	Northern Ireland Office
	In relation to part (b) (A-D) for persons convicted of murder and released otherwise than under the Belfast agreement, available information indicates that 395 people have been released since 1975. Table 2 shows the time served by these prisoners. These figures include persons sentenced to be detained at the pleasure of the Secretary of State who were under 18 years of age at the time of their offence. It is possible that not all of those recorded in the figures were convicted in Northern Ireland.
	
		Table 2: Numbers of persons convicted of murder and released otherwise than under the Belfast agreement; 1975 to 2005 (November)
		
			 Time served Number of persons 
		
		
			 Less than 5 years 1 
			 5 years to less than 10 years 21 
			 10 years to less than 20 years 372 
			 20 years or more 1 
			 Total 395 
		
	
	Source:
	Northern Ireland Prison Service
	In relation to part (c) (14) for persons released under the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998, introduced following the Belfast agreement, available information indicates that a total of 146 persons convicted of murder have been released. Table 3 shows the time served by these prisoners. The figures include persons sentenced to be detained at the pleasure of the Secretary of State who were under 18 years of age at the time of their offence. It is possible that not all of those recorded in the figures were convicted in Northern Ireland. Persons released under the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998 from imprisonment following breach of licence for an earlier sentence for murder have not been included. Only time in custody served in Northern Ireland is included.
	
		Table 3: Numbers of persons convicted of murder and released under the Belfast agreement; 1998 to 2005 (November)
		
			 Time served Number of persons 
		
		
			 Less than 5 years 13 
			 5 years to less than 10 years 62 
			 10 years to less than 20 years 70 
			 20 years or more 1 
			 Total 146 
		
	
	Source:
	Northern Ireland Office

Nursing Homes

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the change in numbers was of (a) registered nursing homes and (b) nursing home places in Northern Ireland between 1994 and 2004.

Shaun Woodward: Information on the numbers of registered nursing homes and nursing home places for the years 1995 (the earliest year for which information is available) and 2004, and the changes between these dates, is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Nursing homes Nursing home places 
		
		
			 1995 256 9,339 
			 2004 254 9,312 
			 Change 19952004 -2 -27 
		
	
	Notes:
	Information is in respect of the position at 31 March each year. Figures are not available for the position in 1994, therefore figures for 1995 have been provided. The number of nursing homes in 2004 includes 88 dual registered homes (registered for provision of both residential and nursing care). The 2004 figure for nursing home places includes nursing places, but excludes residential places, in dual registered homes.

Paramilitary Attacks

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many paramilitary-style attacks there were in each of the last 10 years; and in how many cases people were (a) apprehended and (b) convicted.

Shaun Woodward: The Police Service of Northern Ireland have advised that the only statistics held in relation to this matter can be found at the PSNI website: www.psni.police.uk and are set out as follows covering the years 1973 to 2005. All statistics are provisional at this stage and may be subject to minor amendment.
	The police have been unsuccessful at holding anyone to account for such crimesusually victims and witnesses are unwilling or unable to co-operate with police and therefore there is little the police can do.
	
		Casualties as a result of paramilitary-style attacks, 1973 to 2005(121)
		
			  Shootings Assaults(122) 
			  Total By loyalist groups(123) By republican groups(123) Total By loyalist groups(123) By republican groups(123) Total casualties (shootings and assaults) 
		
		
			 1973 74 21 53 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1974 127 43 84 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1975 189 50 139 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1976 98 36 62 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1977 126 28 98 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1978 67 17 50 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1979 76 25 51 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1980 77 26 51 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1981 80 14 66 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1982 81 22 59 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1983 31 9 22 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1984 26 6 20 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1985 32 11 21 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1986 41 24 17 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1987 124 67 57 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1988 66 34 32 56 21 35 122 
			 1989 161 65 96 51 23 28 212 
			 1990 106 60 46 68 21 47 174 
			 1991 76 40 36 62 22 40 138 
			 1992 133 72 61 74 36 38 207 
			 1993 85 60 25 41 35 6 126 
			 1994 122 68 54 70 38 32 192 
			 1995 3 3 0 217 76 141 220 
			 1996 24 21 3 302 130 172 326 
			 1997 72 46 26 156 78 78 228 
			 1998 72 34 38 144 89 55 216 
			 1999 73 47 26 134 90 44 207 
			 2000 136 86 50 132 78 54 268 
			 2001 186 121 65 146 93 53 332 
			 2002 173 117 56 139 89 50 312 
			 2003 156 101 55 149 103 46 305 
			 2004 112 89 23 115 74 41 227 
			 2004(124) 94 72 22 89 62 27 183 
			 2005(125) 65 56 9 77 51 26 142 
		
	
	n/a = Not available.
	(121) Updated on 14 October 2005.
	(122) Beatings.
	(123) Attribution is as perceived by PSNI based on the information available and does not necessarily indicate the involvement of a paramilitary organisation.
	(124) To 30 September 2004.
	(125) To 30 September 2005.

Pathologists

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many pathologists were employed in Northern Ireland (a) in 2000 and (b) on the latest date for which figures are available.

Shaun Woodward: Information is only available on pathologists employed within the NI HPSS. This information is provided in the following table.
	
		Number of pathologists by speciality employed within in the NI HPSS in September 2000 and September 2005 Headcount
		
			  September 2000 September 2005 
			  Consultant Specialist registrars (consultant trainees) Consultant Specialist registrars (consultant trainees) 
		
		
			 Histopathology/ neuropathology/ cytopathology 33 9 34 13 
			 Haematology 16 7 17 13 
			 Medical microbiology 13 5 13 7 
			 Chemical pathology 7 3 8 5 
			 Immunopathology 1 1 1 0 
			 Total 70 25 73 38 
		
	
	Source:
	DHSSPS

Polling Stations (Disabled Access)

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps the Government are taking to improve conditions for disabled voters at polling stations in Northern Ireland.

David Hanson: This issue is an operational matter and is the responsibility of the Chief Electoral Officer who has written to the hon. Gentleman. The text of the letter is as follows.
	The Electoral Office keeps all polling places under constant review to ensure that disabled voters have where possible the same facilities and ease of access as able bodied voters. Where facilities are less than satisfactory, the Electoral Office has been working with the owners of such properties and with the Equality Commission to help the owners address their obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act. Unfortunately, some alterations do take time and often there are no ready alternative venues in the locality.
	All polling stations in Northern Ireland are equipped with the new style of polling booth which incorporates a compartment with a lowered writing shelf suitable for wheelchair users. Large print versions of the ballot paper are displayed in all polling stations and each is equipped with a selector device so that visually impaired electors can vote without assistance if they so choose.

Prostate Cancer

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what funding has been provided for information leaflets advising men to seek medical help should they experience symptoms of prostate cancer in the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: No specific funding has been earmarked by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety for the provision of information leaflets on prostate cancer. However, the Chief Medical Officer's (CMO) report of 2003 included a short article on prostate cancer. This Report was issued with every copy of the three main Northern Ireland newspapers sold on a particular day. In the article, inter alia, doctors were advised to ensure that men who asked for a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test were properly informed about it, including the benefits and downside of the test. In November 2003, in a CMO update, which is sent to all doctors in Northern Ireland, they were told about an information pack, Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme, available from the Department of Health (L). Included in this pack are a supply of information leaflets for men considering a PSA test. The CMO's report of 2004 reiterated this information.

Reoffending

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of young offenders re-offended in Northern Ireland in each year since 2001.

David Hanson: Information is not available in the form requested. The most recent information available on reconviction rates for both juveniles and adults in Northern Ireland has been published by the Northern Ireland Office in two statistical bulletins in March 2005 (Adult Reconviction in Northern Ireland 2001 and Juvenile Reconviction in Northern Ireland 2001). Copies of these bulletins are available in the Library.

Sexual Health

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cases of sexually transmitted infections were diagnosed in each year since 1998, broken down by health board.

Shaun Woodward: The total number of recorded instances of sexually transmitted infections in each Health Board is not available. However, the total number recorded in Northern Ireland is available and is shown in the following table for the years 1998 to 2004.
	
		
			  Number of sexually transmitted infections 
		
		
			 1998 8,986 
			 1999 10,169 
			 2000 11,172 
			 2001 11,300 
			 2002 11,868 
			 2003 11,547 
			 2004 11,481 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The number of instances of sexually transmitted diseases is measured according to the number of attendances at Genito-Urinary Medicine clinics.
	2. These totals contain conditions whose mode of transmission is not solely sexual.
	Source:
	Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre Northern Ireland (CDSC(NI)).

Specialist Nurses

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what funding has been provided for additional specialist nurses to sufferers of (a) ulcerative colitis and (b) Crohn's disease in Northern Ireland.

Shaun Woodward: No recurrent funding has been specifically provided for additional specialist nurses to sufferers of ulcerative colitis or Crohn's Disease. However, funding of 30,000 has been provided for a Community Nursing Redesign Pilot Project, which is looking at a community nurse-led service to develop chronic disease management for patients with colorectal illnesses including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. In addition, there are a number of trusts who employ gastroenterology related specialist nurses, part of whose remit is caring for patients with these conditions.

Tonsil and Adenoid Removals

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many children aged under 16 years in each health board area in Northern Ireland were discharged from hospital after removal of tonsils or adenoids in each of the last 12 months.

Shaun Woodward: The number of children aged under 16 years, in each health board area in Northern Ireland, discharged from hospital following a tonsillectomy or adenoidectomy, in each month during 200405 (the latest year for which information is available), is shown in the following table:
	
		Discharges following a tonsillectomy or adenoidectomy performed on children aged under 16 Number
		
			 Month of Discharge EHSSB NHSSB SHSSB WHSSB Unassigned 
		
		
			 2004  
			 April 67 54 54 24 3 
			 May 82 38 51 34 4 
			 June 72 52 48 26 3 
			 July 70 32 38 47 1 
			 August 66 43 44 30 4 
			 September 70 48 62 29 2 
			 October 88 35 56 33 1 
			 November 103 41 47 38 8 
			 December 73 27 43 25 4 
			   
			 2005  
			 January 80 25 50 33 10 
			 February 58 40 52 32 6 
			 March 81 40 48 76 4

Under-age Drinking

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many prosecutions were brought against (a) public houses and (b) nightclubs in Northern Ireland for supplying alcohol to under-age purchasers in each of the last three years.

David Hanson: It is not possible to identify separately prosecutions brought against public houses and those against nightclubs. The prosecutions included in the table are for the offences of selling intoxicating liquor to a minor and licensee selling intoxicating liquor to minor also meaning that the prosecutions could be against any licensed premises and not just public houses or nightclubs.
	It should be noted that the court data is recorded on a principal offence rule, so that where proceedings involve more than one offence dealt with at the same time, only the principal offence is recorded (i.e. that attracting the most severe penalty).
	The figures cover the period 2001 to 2003 (2003 being the most up-to-date available). Data relating to 2004 will be available in early 2006.
	
		Prosecutions for supplying alcohol to under-age purchasers 2001 to 2003
		
			  Number of prosecutions 
		
		
			 2001 1 
			 2002 4 
			 2003 5 
		
	
	Source:
	Northern Ireland Office

Travellers

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on unauthorised Traveller encampments in Northern Ireland.

David Hanson: I am aware of the impact of unauthorised encampments on settled communities, and I appreciate the desire for measures to deal with the affects of such unauthorised encampments. It was for this reason the Unauthorised Encampments (Northern Ireland) Order 2005, was introduced and it includes provisions aimed at combating unauthorised encampments. However, the operation of the order cannot be fully effective if sufficient sites for Travellers are not available. Accordingly, I have decided to defer bringing the substantive provisions of the order into effect until I am satisfied that an adequate number of transit sites is operational in Northern Ireland.
	I am pressing the Housing Executive to ensure the necessary sites are available as soon as possible. I anticipate that five sites will be operational by next summer by which time I will review the situation with a view to enabling the necessary provisions. I believe this represents a fair and balanced approach.

999 Calls (Response)

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many 999 calls were first responded to by (a) St. John's ambulances and (b) other non-NHS organisation ambulances in (i) England and (ii) each ambulance trust in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: Information on St. John's ambulances and other non-national health service ambulance organisations is not collected centrally.

Abortion

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the submissions to the Lane Committee on Abortion are in the public domain; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The report of the committee on the working of the Abortion Act, chaired by the hon. Mrs. Justice Lane DBE, was published in 1974. A list of those who submitted evidence was published at the time but the report states that
	All written and oral evidence and answers to questionnaires were invited on the basis that they would be treated as confidential to the Committee.

Bournemouth and Christchurch NHS

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the costs of running Bournemouth and Christchurch NHS Trust have been in each of the last five financial years.

Caroline Flint: Information showing data for 200001 to 200405, which is the latest year for which information is available, is shown in the table.
	Running costs are not identified within the accounts of national health service trusts. Figures shown are the total operating expenses of the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Trust, which is closest to the information requested.
	
		Total operating expenses of the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Trust
		
			  000 
		
		
			 200001 96,993 
			 200102 106,117 
			 200203 118,520 
			 200304 129,097 
			 200405 148,152 
		
	
	Note:
	This trust moved to Foundation status as of 1 April 2005 and so comparable figures will not be available from the Department for 200506.
	Source:
	Audited summarisation schedules of the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Trust

Cancelled Operations/Appointments

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on progress towards reducing cancelled operations and appointments at NHS units in the Hemel Hempstead constituency in the last 12 months.

Rosie Winterton: Information relating to the number of cancelled appointments in national health service units within the Hemel Hempstead constituency is not held centrally.
	The following table shows the number of cancelled operations at West Hertfordshire hospitals NHS trust, of which Hemel Hempstead constituency is a part, over the last 12 months.
	
		Number of cancelled operations at West Hertfordshire hospitals NHS trust.
		
			West Hertfordshire hospitals NHS trust  Number of last minute cancellations for non clinical reasons in the quarter Number of patients not admitted within 28 days of cancellation on the day of surgery 
		
		
			 200506   
			 Quarter l 99 22 
			
			 200405   
			 Quarter 4 160 38 
			 Quarter 3 189 30 
			 Quarter 2 153 27 
			 Quarter l 164 29 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. A last minute cancellation is one that occurs on the day the patient was due to arrive, after they have arrived in hospital or on the day of their operation. For example, you are to be admitted to hospital on a Monday for an operation scheduled for the following day (Tuesday). If the hospital cancels your operation for non-clinical reasons on the Monday then this would count as a last minute cancellation. This includes patients who have not actually arrived in hospital and have been telephoned at home prior to their arrival.
	2. Some common non-clinical reasons for cancellations by the hospital include: ward beds unavailable; surgeon unavailable; emergency case needing theatre; theatre list over-ran; equipment failure; admin error; anaesthetist unavailable; theatre staff unavailable; and critical care bed unavailable. These examples are based on information from the Modernisation Agency's Theatres Project and do not necessarily cover all non-clinical reasons.
	Source:
	QMCO

Care Homes

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many care homes (a) exceeded, (b) met, (c) almost met and (d) failed to meet (i) the national minimum standard for complaints procedures and (ii) Regulation (A) 5 and (B) 6 of the Care Home Regulations 2001 in each of the last five years.

Liam Byrne: I understand from the Chair of the Commission for Social Care Inspection, that data is collected on how care homes are meeting the national minimum standards. How care homes have met these standards is shown in the tables. Regulations 5, 5A and 6 set out requirements on information to be provided to the service users. Regulation 22 sets out requirements for the complaints procedure. Compliance with these regulations is a legal condition that must be met in order for a home to be registered.

Care Homes

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many beds in care homes there were in (a) Hertfordshire and (b) Dacorum in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The number of beds in Hertfordshire in each year since 1997 is shown in tables one and two. Data for Dacorum are not collected separately but is included in the Hertfordshire figures.
	Table one shows the number of care home places open in Hertfordshire for adults aged 18 and over, at 31 March for the years 1997 to 2001. Table two shows the number of care home places registered for adults aged 18 and over, at 31 March for the years 2003 to 2005.
	Data for 2001 and 2002 are not available. The data from before 2002 are not comparable to the data after 2002. This is because the Department's data up to 31 March 2001 are based on the number of care homes open as at 31 March, whereas the Commission for Social Care Inspection data from 1 April 2002 are based on the number of care homes registered as at 31 March.
	
		Table 1: Number of care home places open for adults aged 18 and over in Hertfordshire 19972001(126)  Rounded numbers
		
			 At 31 March Number of places 
		
		
			 1997 7,000 
			 1998 8,100 
			 1999 8,600 
			 2000 8,800 
			 2001 (127) 
		
	
	(126) Includes residential homes, nursing homes and mental nursing homes.
	(127) Not available.
	Note:
	Residential care home places relates to Hertfordshire council with Social Services responsibilities; nursing home places relate to East and North Hertfordshire and West Hertfordshire Health Authorities.
	Source:
	RA and RH(N)
	
		Table 2: Number of care home places registered for adults aged 18 and over in Hertfordshire Rounded numbers
		
			 At 31 March Number of places 
		
		
			 2003(128) 7252 
			 2004 7342 
			 2005 7419 
		
	
	Note:
	Excludes some local authority homes which were open but not registered.
	Source:
	CSCI

Carers

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the likely impact on carers of the work of the Social Care Institute of Excellence.

Liam Byrne: The Social Care Institute of Education have recently designed and published an on line guide primarily for the social care managers and practitioners responsible for the implementation of the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004. The essential steps and many of the practice points throughout the guide will be useful to those responsible for strategic planning and commissioning. Practitioners will need the support of senior and line managers and an appropriate framework to enable them to help carers. The guide will also be useful for carers, people who use social services and professionals from other organisations that support carers.
	This work is in addition to SCIE's Practice guide on assessing the mental health needs of older people, which was published in January 2003. This guide gives an overview of information and current practice to all those involved in assessing the social care needs of older people with mental health needs. It supports the fundamentals of good assessment practice, giving access to the information and skills that inform sound judgments in the support of service users and carers. It shows users and carers where they can find out more and what they are entitled to expect from their contact with assessors.

Carers

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to monitor the (a) implementation and (b) impact of the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004.

Liam Byrne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 November 2005 to the hon. Member for Torbay (Mr. Sanders), Official Report, column 2103W.

Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the budget deficit is for each hospital in the Cheshire and Merseyside strategic health authority.

Liam Byrne: The latest financial year for which the audited financial information of all national health service organisations, strategic health authorities, primary care trusts and NHS trusts, is available is 200405. The final position for NHS trusts for 200405 in the Cheshire and Merseyside SHA is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  000 
			 NHS trust name Retained surplus/(deficit) 
		
		
			 Southport And Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust (1,189) 
			 The Cardiothoracic CentreLiverpool NHS Trust 0 
			 Royal Liverpool Broadgreen Hospitals NHS Trust 0 
			 Aintree Hospitals NHS Trust 7 
			 Liverpool Women's Hospital NHS Trust 7 
			 St. Helens And Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust 9 
			 Mersey Care NHS Trust 9 
			 Royal Liverpool Children's NHS Trust 10 
			 Walton Neurology Centre NHS Trust 10 
			 Cheshire And Wirral Partnership NHS Trust 13 
			 Mersey Regional Ambulance Service NHS Trust 15 
			 East Cheshire NHS Trust 24 
			 Wirral Hospital NHS Trust 25 
			 The Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust 31 
			 Clatterbridge Centre For Oncology NHS Trust 32 
			 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Trust 38 
			 North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust 84 
		
	
	Note:
	A copy of this information is available in the Library. It is also available on the Department's website at: www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/FreedomOflnformation/ClassesOflnformation/fs/en
	Source:
	Audited NHS Trust Summarisation Schedules 200405.

Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans are being considered by Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority for the reconfiguration of acute trusts; who has been consulted on such plans; when it is intended to discuss such plans with hon. Members; and what public consultation will be undertaken before decisions are taken.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 22 November 2005
	The Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority (SHA) reports that it has commissioned independent consultants to work with national health service trusts to develop a coherent strategy that would enable all organisations in its area to achieve foundation trust status. At this time, the SHA does not have any plans to re-configure the acute trusts in its area.

Child Epilepsy

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the incidence of child epilepsy; and what courses of treatment have been made available in the last three years.

Liam Byrne: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has estimated that there are between 4,000 and 14,000 new consultations per year in the United Kingdom for epilepsy in children.
	The NICE guidance, The diagnosis and care of children and adults with epilepsy published in October 2004, and Newer drugs for epilepsy in children, published in April 2004 contain information on the latest treatments. Copies are available at NICE'S website at www.nice.org.uk.

Child Protection

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to link designated professional staff for the protection of children from abuse and neglect to Local Safeguarding Children Board areas.

Liam Byrne: Consultation on revising the Government guidance on safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, Working Together to Safeguard Children finished on 28 October. The Government plan to publish a revised version. The guidance is expected to make it clear that designated health professionals are a key part of local safeguarding arrangements and are a vital source of professional advice on child protection matters to other professionals, the primary care trust (PCT) and to the local authority children's services departments. Chapter three of that guidance is about the role of local safeguarding children boards (LSCBs), which will be set up under sections 1316 of the Children Act. Each strategic health authority, PCT, NHS trust or NHS foundation trust will be required to link up with the local authority and other key stakeholders, as set out in the Children Act 2004, who cover the same areas in order to establish a LSCB by April 2006.

Departmental Directors

John Maples: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who the Director of Human Resources is in her Department; what relevant specialist qualifications he or she holds; and what the details are of his or her career to date.

Jane Kennedy: Dr. Anne Rainsberry is the Head of Corporate Human Resources in the Department. Dr. Rainsberry joined the civil service in 2001 after 15 years in the national health service. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personal Development (CIPD) and has worked in human resource for 19 years.
	Andrew Foster CBE is the Director of Workforce in the Department's health and social care directorate. Mr. Foster spent 10 years in the NHS before joining the Department in 2001. He is a Fellow of the CIPD.

Erythropoietin

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  when the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence expects to publish the new appraisal consultation document for the use of erythropoietin in the treatment of cancer treatment-induced anaemia;
	(2)  why the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has decided to review its appraisal consultation document for the use of erythropoietin in the treatment of cancer treatment-induced anaemia.

Jane Kennedy: I understand that the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) decided to review its appraisal consultation document on the use of erythropoietin at the second meeting of the independent advisory committee on technology appraisals. At the meeting, it was decided that some reanalysis of the evidence may be required. The project specification for this work is currently being finalised and will be published on NICE's website at www.nice.org.uk shortly.
	NICE expects to publish the new appraisal consultation document for erythropoietin in May 2006.

Funding (Milton Keynes)

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding was allocated by her Department to Milton Keynes for (a) capital projects and (b) revenue funding in each of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: Capital and revenue allocations are made to national health service organisations, strategic health authorities (SHAs) primary care trusts (PCTs) and NHS trusts and are not allocated on a constituency basis. The tables show the NHS bodies within the Milton Keynes area that have received capital and revenue funding.
	Operational capital is allocated to all NHS trusts and PCTs. The funding is provided to maintain and enhance their existing capital stock. The allocations for the organisations in the Milton Keynes PCT area are shown in table 1.
	
		Table 1. Allocations for Milton Keynes PCT 000
		
			 Organisation 200304 200405 200506 
		
		
			 Milton Keynes PCT 407 456 516 
			 Milton Keynes General Hospitals NHS Trust 2,195 2,505 2,835 
			 South Buckinghamshire NHS Trust 2,398 2,586 2,767 
			 Stoke Mandeville Hospital NHS Trust 2,194 2,347 2,512 
			 Buckinghamshire Mental Health NHS Trust 936 1,069 1,209 
			 Two Shires Ambulance NHS Trust 1,009 1,080 1,155 
		
	
	Strategic capital is allocated to strategic health authorities to support larger scale investments. The allocations for the Thames Valley SHA is shown in table 2.
	
		Table 2: Allocations for Thames Valley SHA
		
			  000 
		
		
			 200304 20,612 
			 200405 26,211 
			 200506 28,172 
		
	
	Note:
	Comparisons between allocations rounds cannot be made, for the following reasons:
	Revenue allocations were made to health authorities for the period 200001 to 200203;
	Changes are made to the weighted capitation formula for each allocations round, therefore, comparisons would not be on a like with like basis;
	200306 revenue allocations were made direct to PCTs, for the first time, and were on a three yearly basis; and
	200608 is the first year that Primary Medical Services (PMedS) were incorporated onto revenue allocations.
	Prior to 200304, the Department allocated all NHS capital to the eight regional offices who had responsibility for distributing this funding to their health authorities.
	NHS capital allocations have not been made for 200607 onwards.
	The most recent round of revenue allocations, covering 200607 and 200708 was announced in February 2005. Revenue allocations made to Milton Keynes PCT for this period is shown in table 3.
	
		Table 3: Revenue allocations to Milton Keynes PCT for 200607 and 200708
		
			  000 
		
		
			 200607 allocation 247,043 
			 200708 allocation 277,919 
			 2 year increase 55,573 
			 Increase over 2 years (percentage) 25.0 
		
	
	The 200304 to 200506 revenue allocations to PCTs were announced in December 2002. Revenue allocations made to Milton Keynes PCT for this period is shown in table 4.
	
		Table 4. Revenue allocations to Milton Keynes PCT for 200304 to 200506
		
			  000 
		
		
			 200304 allocation 167,638 
			 200405 allocation 183,498 
			 200506 allocation 200,679 
			 3 year increase 47,844 
			 Increase over 3 years (percentage) 31.30

Health Services (Uxbridge)

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time for an appointment to see a general practitioner was in (a) the parliamentary constituency of Uxbridge and (b) Greater London in each year since 1997 for which figures are available.

Jane Kennedy: The requested data is not collected or held centrally. Since 2001, data has been collected each month from primary care trusts and general practitioners on the availability of access to a general practitioner. This data shows whether access is or is not available in line with the NHS Plan target that patients should be able to be seen within 48 hours but do not provide information on actual waiting times.

Health Services (Uxbridge)

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average response time to an emergency call to the Ambulance Service was in (a) Uxbridge constituency and (b) each London borough in the last year for which figures are available.

Jane Kennedy: The information is not centrally collected in the requested format. The data that the Department collects on ambulance response times is published in tables 5a, 5b, 6 and 7 of the statistical bulletin, Ambulance services, England: 200405, which is available in the Library and on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk.

Hemel Hempstead Hospital

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if she will list the posts that will be lost at Hemel Hempstead Hospital under the proposed plans to close all acute services at the hospital; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 21 November 2005
	The reconfiguration of health services in Hertfordshire is a matter for Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire strategic health authority to agree upon, in partnership with the primary care trusts within the two counties. This major reconfiguration of services, known locally as Investing in Your Health, was consulted on in 2003, and the strategic health authority is currently compiling an outline business case which is expected to be submitted to the Department in January 2006.

Hospital-acquired Infections

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of (a) MRSA and (b) other antibiotic resistant bacteria infections there have been at the Norfolk and Norwich hospital in (a) private and (b) NHS patients in each of the last five years; and what the average number per acute hospital in England in each category was over the same period.

Jane Kennedy: The best data available is from the mandatory surveillance system which started in April 2001. Reports of meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) blood stream infections in the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital National Health Service Trust are shown in the table. The table also shows the trust and national rate per 1,000 bed days as this is a more reliable benchmark than an average number of reports.
	
		Reports of MRSA at Norfolk and Norwich hospital
		
			  April 2001 to March 2002 April 2002 to March 2003 April 2003 to March 2004 April 2004 to March 2005 
		
		
			 Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust Number of reports 62 57 64 58 
			 Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust Rate per 1,000 bed days 0.22 0.19 0.20 0.18 
			 National rate per 1,000 bed days 0.17 0.17 0.18 0.17 
		
	
	The mandatory surveillance system also includes reports of blood stream infections caused by glycopeptide resistant enteroccoci. Results of the first year of surveillance, October 2003 to September 2004, are available and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust did not have any cases during this year. As this is a relatively rare national infection rates are not available.

Hospital-acquired Infections

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent research the Department has commissioned into combating MRSA.

Jane Kennedy: During the first half of 2003, the Department commissioned a 2.5 million strategic programme of research aimed at improving scientific understanding of antimicrobial resistance. Part of that total sum, together with funds committed by the former NHS Estates Agency, is being spent on projects that will provide information relating to best practice in preventing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
	The publication of the Department's report Winning Waysworking together to reduce healthcare associated infection in England in December 2003 was accompanied by the announcement that 3 million would be allocated to fund a new research programme on healthcare associated infections.
	Several projects are being supported from this fund. These include:
	a national observational study of the effectiveness of the Clean Your Hands campaign and a cluster randomised controlled trial of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of feedback in intensive care units and acute general medical wards;
	a study of the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of MRSA screening and monitoring on surgical wards using a new, rapid molecular test;
	a randomised crossover trial of a new, rapid method of MRSA detection compared with conventional screening: efficacy and the effect upon hospital MRSA infection rates, transmission rates and the use of hospital resources.
	Funding has recently been agreed to support the development of a healthcare infection research network. In addition, a call for proposals for research into the cost-effectiveness of interventions aimed at controlling the spread of infection was published earlier this year. Twelve short listed projects are being peer reviewed and we expect to commission several of these early next year.

MRI/CT Scans

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many scans have been delivered to date under the Alliance Medical contract for mobile MRI scans; how many (a) rejected and (b) repeat scans there were; and what assessment she has made of the (i) timeliness of, (ii) quality of and (iii) customer satisfaction with scans provided under the contract.

Liam Byrne: Over 83,000 scans had been delivered via the Alliance Medical Limited (AML) mobile scanning units by the end of October 2005. Of these, less than 1.5 per cent. were repeat scans, which is in line with national health service practice and incorporates the figure for rejected scans as patients are automatically re-imaged by AML.
	AML is now exceeding its contracted reporting time of four working days, with 97 per cent. of scan reports returned within three days.
	Scan quality is independently audited every six months by the clinical guardian of the contract, Professor Adrian Dixon; NHS sponsors; and AML's head of clinical governance.
	The last audit, which compared a sample of scans provided by the NHS and the independent sector, carried out by the Royal College of Radiologists in conjunction with the Department of Health, was published in May 2005. The findings stated that there was little difference in the technical quality of magnetic resonance examinations between the two services.
	In addition, scan quality is monitored consistently throughout the contract as an integral part of the clinical governance framework. Any discrepancies or concerns are audited on a case by case basis by the clinical guardian of the contract.
	In October, 90 per cent. of patients rated the service as excellent or good.

Nappies

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what measures she has put in place to ensure the safety of commercial cloth laundering services supplying NHS maternity wards with communally laundered cloth nappies for newborn babies; and what temperature these nappies are washed at;
	(2)  when the proposed BSI PAS 100 safety standard for commercial cloth nappy laundries will be finalised;
	(3)  what research she has evaluated on the effects on levels of infections of the use of communally-laundered cloth nappies in NHS maternity wards.

Liam Byrne: Commercial cloth laundering services supplying national health services maternity wards with communally laundered cloth nappies for newborn babies must comply with NHS laundry guideline with HSG(95)18, a copy of which has been placed in the Library. The guidelines set a thermal disinfection wash cycle in which the water temperature has been raised to 65 degrees C for not less than ten minutes or to 71 degrees centigrade for not less than three minutes.
	The British Standards Institute publicly available specification 106 safety standard for commercial cloth nappy laundries is expected to be published early in the new year.
	The Department has not evaluated any research into the effects on levels of infections of the use of communally-laundered cloth nappies in NHS maternity wards.

NHS Direct Services

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has for NHS Direct Services to be accessible via internet-enabled mobile handsets.

Liam Byrne: NHS Direct Special Health Authority (SpHA) is responsible for setting overall strategy and direction for the service. There are no immediate plans to make services accessible in this way. Any future plans would need to be considered by the SpHA in the context of its three-year multi-channel strategy and agreed by Department through the established governance arrangements.

NHS Staff (Bullying)

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent estimate she has made of the cost to the NHS of the bullying of members of its staff by other members of its staff; and if she will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: The improving working lives initiative ensures employers have in place an organisational commitment and culture to tackle discrimination/harassment and bullying.
	No official estimate of the financial cost of bullying in the national health service has been made. However, the NHS national staff survey for 2004, carried out by the Healthcare Commission, revealed that 16 per cent. of NHS staff had been bullied, harassed or abused by other staff in the previous year. Given that the NHS employs over 1,300,00 people, the total personal and financial costs of bullying is unacceptably high. With the support of NHS employers, the Department is working to ensure an approach of zero tolerance to bullying and harassment in the NHS.

NHS Work Force Data

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations have been made to the Department by (a) the Royal Statistical Society and (b) the Statistics Commission on the presentation of NHS workforce data; and how the Department has responded.

Jane Kennedy: Two representations have been made this year to the Department by the Royal Statistical Society and the Statistics Commission on the publication in March 2004 of an incorrect chart showing trends in the national health service's workforce. The Department responded to both representations, acknowledging that the chart was incorrect, and indicating that a correction had been published on the Department's website. The central message that the chart had intended to convey, increases in the workforce each year since 1997, was still correct.

Norfolk PCTs

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she will make a decision on the reorganisation of Norfolk primary care trusts; and if she will undertake a public consultation process.

Rosie Winterton: Strategic health authorities have recently submitted their proposals for the reconfiguration of primary care trusts, which set out how they intend to strengthen their commissioning function. These proposals have been assessed by an independent external panel drawn from and representing a wide range of stakeholder interests, to determine whether the SHA proposals meet the criteria stipulated in 'Commissioning a Patient-Led NHS' (July 2005). Where the criteria are judged to have been met the proposals will go forward to a three-month public consultation. No decisions on the reorganisation of PCTs will be taken until this process has been completed.

Patient Safety

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS trusts have not submitted patient safety data to the National Reporting and Learning System; and what action she will take to reduce this number.

Jane Kennedy: As of mid-November 2005, about 75 per cent. of all national health service trusts in England have submitted data to the national patient safety agency's national reporting and learning system (NRLS). 146 NHS trusts have not yet submitted data.
	The National Patient Safety Agency has appointed a network of patient safety managers to work with trusts in enabling them to report patient safety incidents to their local risk management system and then to the NRLS.
	In addition the Healthcare Commission is reviewing NHS organisations against a set of core standards, the first one of which relates to safety. Reporting patient safety incidents to the NRLS is one of a set of criteria against which trusts are assessed.
	We are considering what further action can be taken in the light of the National Audit Office report, A safer place for patients: Learning to improve patient safety, which draws attention to the level of reporting in acute, mental health and ambulance trusts in England. The report will be discussed in detail at a committee of public accounts hearing early in 2006. The Government will respond to the committee's subsequent report in the form of a Treasury minute.

Primary Care Trusts

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding per capita was given to (a) Chelmsford primary care trust, (b) Essex primary care trusts, (c) Eastern Region primary care trusts, (d) Greater London primary care trusts and (e) primary care trusts in England in the last two financial years for which figures are available.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 17 November 2005
	Revenue resource allocations per head of population to primary care trusts (PCTs) in these areas in 200405 and 200506 are shown in the table.
	Allocations to PCTs are based on the population weighted for a number of factors. These factors include:
	age related needto recognise that people tend to have greater need as they grow older;
	additional needsto reflect difference in health need over and above that accounted for by age; and
	unavoidable difference in the cost of providing services.
	Revenue allocations for PCTs increased from 49.3 billion for 200405 to 53.9 billion for 200506; and are due a further increase to 64 billion in 200607 and 70 billion in 200708. Over the two years covered by this further allocation, PCTs will receive an average increase of 19.5 per cent.
	
		
			
			  200405 allocation per head 200506 allocation per head 
		
		
			 Chelmsford PCT 852 975 
			 PCTs in Essex strategic health authority 905 1,082 
			 PCTs in the Government Office for the East of England 889 1,061 
			 PCTs in the Government Office for London 1,114 1,317 
			 PCTs in England 986 1,172 
		
	
	Note:
	The population data used in the table above is the updated populations used in the 200608 revenue allocations to PCTs.

Primary Care Trusts

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Government have to merge the four primary care trusts in Somerset.

Caroline Flint: Strategic health authorities have recently submitted their proposals for the reconfiguration of primary care trusts, which set out how they intend to strengthen their commissioning function. The proposal for Somerset is available from the Dorset and Somerset SHA. These proposals have been assessed by an independent external panel drawn from and representing a wide range of stakeholder interests, to determine whether the SHA proposals meet the criteria stipulated in Commissioning a Patient-Led NHS (July 2005). Where the criteria are judged to have been met the proposals will go forward to a three-month public consultation. No decisions on the reorganisation of PCTs will be taken until this process has been completed.

Smoking

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research she has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on whether the proposed ban on smoking in public places will displace smoking from pubs to domestic environments.

Caroline Flint: The evidence available from those countries with legislation for smokefree public places and bars is that there is no significant displacement to domestic environments.
	Smokefree legislation has been shown to result in reduced prevalence of smoking, which in turn means reduced prevalence of smoking in domestic environments as well as public places.
	Recent research on the ban in Ireland reported in the publication Going Smokefree by the Royal College of Physicians pointed to a statistically significant increase in the percentage of smokers who banned smoking in their own homes after the smokefree law was introduced.(Page 74).

Smoking

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research her Department has evaluated on the displacement effect of workplace smoking bans on smoking at home; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The Royal College of Physicians July 2005 report, Going Smokefree reviewed the evidence and concluded:
	There is no evidence that smokefree workplaces and enclosed public places increase the exposure of children to environmental tobacco smoke at home.
	A study of changes in Ireland published in the journal Tobacco Control in October 2005 reported from a survey of smokers before and after the March 2004 ban came in:
	. . . there was a significant decrease in the percentage of Irish homes where smoking was allowed.
	Source:
	Fong G. T., Hyland A et al. Reductions in tobacco smoke pollution and increases in support for smoke-free public places following the implementation of comprehensive smoke-free workplace legislation in the Republic of Ireland: findings from the ITC Ireland/UK survey. Tobacco Control 2005;000:18.doi:10.1136/tc.2005.013649.

Your Health, Your Care, Your Say

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons a regional meeting was chosen as the forum for those selected to apply for involvement in the Your Health, Your Care, Your Say consultation programme; what other consultative forms were considered; what the cost of the consultation exercise has been (a) per stakeholder engaged and (b) in total; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: Four regional deliberative consultation events were held as part of the overall consultation which also included a citizens' summit and events co-ordinated by local health and social care organisations, including the voluntary sector. We produced an online questionnaire, copies of which were available in hard copy, an assortment of languages, braille and easy read. An abbreviated questionnaire was published in the magazine Take-a-Break and in the national health service publications, Prime and Fit. Five policy taskforces of key stakeholders have been established to make recommendations on the policy options associated with the public's view and five academic seminars were organised.
	The overall cost is estimated at 1.2 million. Cost per stakeholder will not be known until the feedback from all sources has been analysed fully.